Integrating AI into Career Navigation Services

Career navigation requires job seekers to make a series of complex decisions, from choosing a career path and identifying needed skills to finding training and applying for jobs. This MDRC brief documents how the SkillUp Coalition integrated artificial intelligence (AI) tools into its online career-navigation platform, which serves people without bachelor’s degrees. It describes the organization’s implementation experience, its internal and external analyses of the tools, and lessons for other organizations considering similar approaches. For Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) practitioners, the brief offers a starting point for examining whether AI can help extend access to career information and personalized guidance. This brief can inform discussions about AI’s effects on employment outcomes, where technology may complement staff advising, what to assess during implementation, and how to avoid treating AI as a substitute for human support.