Earlier this month, I gathered with others from our community to break ground on the new West High School. For generations, West High has been a cornerstone of Salt Lake City. Rebuilding it represents a major investment in our students and in the future of our city.
In 2024, I was proud to be part of a group of parents who encouraged voters to support the Salt Lake City School District bond that made this project possible. These voter-approved resources will rebuild West High and Highland High and modernize facilities across the district so students can learn in safe, modern classrooms.
As we lay the foundation for new buildings, we should ask an equally important question: Are we preparing students for the future those buildings are meant to serve?
The answer increasingly revolves around artificial intelligence. AI is already transforming the world our children will enter as adults. It is changing how doctors diagnose illnesses, how businesses operate, how engineers design systems and how people create art, write code and solve complex problems.
For today’s students, understanding AI will soon be as fundamental as understanding computers or the internet. That means schools should begin treating AI fluency as a basic form of literacy. Students do not all need to become programmers or data scientists, but every student should understand how these systems work, how to use them responsibly and how to think critically about the information they produce.
Utah has already taken some encouraging steps in this direction. The Utah State Board of Education has begun developing guidance for schools on the responsible use of artificial intelligence, and teachers across the state are beginning to experiment with AI tools in the classroom. These are important early steps, but they are only the beginning of the work ahead.
Equipping students with this knowledge will shape opportunity. Utah has worked hard to build one of the most dynamic economies in the country. From the technology companies of Silicon Slopes to the growing innovation sectors across our state, the jobs of tomorrow will increasingly require people who understand and can work alongside advanced technology. Preparing students for that reality should start in our public schools.
Done right, artificial intelligence can expand opportunity. It can help students learn faster, explore ideas more deeply and develop creative solutions to real-world problems. But if we are not careful, AI could also widen inequality. We have seen this before. In the early days of the internet, some students had access to computers and broadband while others did not. That digital divide translated into differences in educational and economic opportunity.
We cannot repeat that mistake.
Access to AI tools and education should not depend on whether a student attends an elite school or has parents who can afford private tutoring or the latest technology. Public education should ensure that every student, regardless of background, can understand and benefit from the tools shaping the future.
At the same time, students must also learn to recognize the risks. AI can generate convincing misinformation. It can manipulate images, voices and video. It raises important questions about privacy, intellectual property and the reliability of the information we encounter online.
Technology companies should play an important role in building safeguards, especially for young people. But we cannot rely on them alone. Artificial intelligence is advancing too quickly and shaping too many parts of our economy and society to leave its rules entirely to private companies.
Ultimately, the United States will need a clear national framework for AI governance — one that protects safety, privacy and transparency while still encouraging innovation. A patchwork of state-by-state rules will not be enough for a technology that operates across borders and affects every American community.
The future is arriving quickly. Our job is to make sure every student is ready for it.
If I have the opportunity to serve in Congress again, I will work with colleagues in both parties to support policies that promote responsible AI innovation while ensuring our schools have the resources to prepare students for the opportunities and risks this technology brings.
Schools can teach students not only how to use AI but also how to question it — how to evaluate sources, recognize bias and understand when technology is helping them and when it may be misleading them.
Utah has never been a place that waits for someone else to prepare us for the future. Our communities take responsibility for building opportunity and solving problems together. The groundbreaking at West High is a reminder of that commitment. But the real measure of success will not be the buildings themselves. It will be what happens inside them. As we build new schools for our students, we should also build the programs that prepare them for the age of artificial intelligence, the opportunities it will bring and the responsibilities that will come with it.
The future is arriving quickly. Our job is to make sure every student is ready for it.