(Originally published by The Washington Post on March 12, 2024)

The federal government is facing a workforce crisis. Current employees are aging, and young people are less motivated by public service. In cybersecurity, for instance, the government needs some 40,000 cybersecurity professionals to protect the country against malicious actors. More generally, the White House recently announced ambitious goals to boost government hiring of AI talent. But with less than 1 percent of PhDs who specialize in artificial intelligence heading into public service, this “talent surge” might turn into nothing more than a talent blip.

(Continue reading the opinion essay on The Washington Post’s page here)

Daniel E. Ho is a professor of law, political science and computer science (by courtesy) at Stanford University and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). Anne Joseph O’Connell is a professor of law at Stanford and a senior fellow at SIEPR.