Guest Opinion | San Juan Islands need an AI skills test for small businesses

||| FROM GLEB TSIPURSKY for DISASTER AVOIDANCE EXPERTS |||

Washington is receiving a new federal industry-driven workforce training grant. The state’s listed industries include AI and data-center infrastructure, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing. But people working in small island businesses also deserve the skills to assess automated decisions.

Consider an inn whose AI reservation assistant promises a ferry connection that cannot work, or a shop whose automated inventory tool suggests buying far more supplies than seasonal demand warrants. An employee should be trained to verify the underlying facts, correct the customer-facing answer, and explain the problem to the person accountable for the decision.

Access is unequal. According to Gallup’s October national workplace study, 40% of college graduates use AI regularly at work, compared with 17% of workers without degrees. These figures do not measure Orcas Island specifically, but they suggest why hands-on opportunities matter.

If Washington’s new training funds lead to local courses or employer partnerships, island businesses should ask for real-world exercises and evidence of fewer mistakes. Good AI training should leave workers more confident in their own judgment, especially when software sounds sure and is wrong.

Gleb Tsipursky, PhD, a behavioral scientist, CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts, and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results (Georgetown University Press, 2026) https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/aibook

I am a behavioral scientist and the author of the peer-reviewed book, The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results, published by Georgetown University Press https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/The-Psychology-of-AI-Adoption-at-Work My commentary has appeared regularly in The New York Times, The Guardian, the Toronto Star, and many others https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/media