I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9903 

To provide personnel of the Department of Defense with increased access 

to training and education in artificial intelligence and machine learning, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2024 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To provide personnel of the Department of Defense with 

increased access to training and education in artificial 

intelligence and machine learning, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Next Generation Mili5 tary Education Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 9903 IH

1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EDU2 CATION STRATEGY. 

3 Section 256 of the National Defense Authorization 

4 Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 

5 1290) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 subsection: 

7 ‘‘(d) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE

8 LEARNING EDUCATION PLATFORMS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

11 the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer 

12 of the Department of Defense, in coordination with 

13 the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 

14 Readiness, shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) develop a set of distance education 

16 courses on— 

17 ‘‘(i) the foundational concepts of arti18 ficial intelligence and machine learning; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the responsible and ethical use of 

21 artificial intelligence and machine learning 

22 applications; and 

23 ‘‘(B) make such courses available to mem24 bers of the Armed Forces. 

25 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The courses developed under 

26 paragraph (1) shall address— 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 9903 IH

1 ‘‘(A) basic artificial intelligence literacy to 

2 enable members of the Armed Forces to make 

3 informed decisions about the use of artificial in4 telligence products and services, including— 

5 ‘‘(i) a basic understanding of the 

6 strengths and limitations of artificial intel7 ligence products and services; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a basic understanding of the cat9 egories of artificial intelligence technologies 

10 (including classification, prediction, prod11 uct recommendation, autonomous decision 

12 making, voice dictation and machine trans13 lation, and the generation of content such 

14 as text, image, video, and speech) and the 

15 manner in which such categories relate to 

16 different capabilities, benefits, and risks; 

17 ‘‘(iii) an awareness of best practices 

18 for the protection of personal data and 

19 personal identifying information based 

20 upon privacy and classification require21 ments; 

22 ‘‘(iv) an awareness of ethical consider23 ations in the use of artificial intelligence 

24 products and services; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 9903 IH

1 ‘‘(v) the ability to identify common in2 dicators of artificial intelligence-generated 

3 content; and 

4 ‘‘(vi) an awareness of common at5 tempts to employ artificial intelligence-gen6 erated content to deceive or defraud con7 sumers; and 

8 ‘‘(B) any other artificial intelligence lit9 eracy skill the Chief Digital and Artificial Intel10 ligence Officer and the Under Secretary of De11 fense for Personnel and Readiness consider ap12 propriate. 

13 ‘‘(3) MILITARY DEPARTMENT PARTICIPA14 TION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

15 enactment of this subsection, each Secretary of a 

16 military department shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) ensure that members of the Armed 

18 Forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretary 

19 have the ability to access the distance education 

20 courses made available under paragraph (1); 

21 ‘‘(B) notify members of the availability of 

22 such courses and provide a description of the 

23 course content; and 

24 ‘‘(C) provide members with instructions for 

25 accessing such courses. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 9903 IH

1 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 

3 Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congres4 sional defense committees a report on the status of 

5 the activities required under this section. 

6 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) The term ‘artificial intelligence’ has 

8 the meaning given that term in section 5002 of 

9 the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National De10 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

11 (Public Law 116–283; 15 U.S.C. 9401). 

12 ‘‘(B) The term ‘artificial intelligence lit13 eracy’ means the ability to make informed use 

14 of products and services that employ artificial 

15 intelligence.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF PARTICIPATION IN THE DIGITAL ON17 DEMAND PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

19 take such steps as may be necessary— 

20 (1) to expand participation in the Digital On21 Demand Program to— 

22 (A) all organizations and elements of the 

23 Department of Defense; and 

24 (B) all members of the Armed Forces and 

25 civilian employees of the Department; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 9903 IH

1 (2) to actively promote the Program throughout 

2 the Department. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, and on an annual basis there5 after through 2029, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 

6 to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 

7 the House of Representatives a report on the progress of 

8 the Secretary in expanding and promoting the Digital On9 Demand Program as described in subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 4. INCORPORATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 

11 MATTERS INTO ANNUAL CYBERSECURITY 

12 TRAINING. 

13 In conjunction with the activities required under sec14 tions 2 and 3, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that 

15 information on the risks and threats of artificial intel16 ligence is incorporated into the annual cybersecurity train17 ing courses required to be completed by members of the 

18 Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department 

19 of Defense. 

20 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) The term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 5002 of the Wil24 liam M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense AuthorVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Oct 22, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9903.IH H9903

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 9903 IH

1 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116– 

2 283; 15 U.S.C. 9401). 

3 (2) The term ‘‘Digital On-Demand Program’’ 

4 means the program overseen by the Chief Digital 

5 and Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department 

6 of Defense pursuant to which educational resources 

7 on artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, data 

8 literacy, and related topics are made available to 

9 personnel of the Department of Defense through a 

10 digital platform on an on-demand basis. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB