Study: Florida poorly positioned to win the AI race
3D render AI artificial intelligence technology CPU central processor unit chipset on the printed circuit board for electronic and technology concept select focus shallow depth of field

3D render AI artificial intelligence technology CPU central proc
Businesses use the technology. But Florida schools aren't preparing students for it.

If artificial intelligence is the wave of the future, the Sunshine State needs to make up some ground.

This is the conclusion of a report from Brainly that incorporates data from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics and draws a sobering conclusion about Florida, ranking it 35th of all states in being prepared to lead on AI.

With 11.3% of businesses using AI (sixth overall in the United States), Florida is finding ways to monetize the technology.

But even with 11 AI jobs per 1,000 workers (21st overall), infrastructure and education aren’t keeping up.

For example, only 2.3% of high school students take computer science. Only 10 states are worse by that metric.

The state is 35th when it comes to AI-related degrees for people aged 20 to 24.

Meanwhile, just 56.8% of homes have “fast internet,” good for 30th overall.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has given mixed signals when it comes to preparing for the inevitability of AI.

While he has embraced artificial intelligence for his Department of Government Efficiency audits of local budgets, DeSantis just vetoed legislation that would have required a report on how AI and automation are affecting the Florida workforce, on the grounds that “such a report, to the extent it has value, would likely be obsolete by the time it was published” later this year.

He also worries about the technology.

“It’s one thing to use technology to enhance the human experience, but it’s another thing to have technology supplant the human experience and we’re going to be working in Florida to develop a coherent approach to this. It’s rapidly changing,” DeSantis said Monday.

The Governor added that the state “can’t put our head in the sand and just say, ‘we’re not going to deal with AI at all,’ because it is becoming a fact of life. But we can’t just turn the reins over to a bunch of tech overlords. That doesn’t work. That ultimately isn’t going to be what’s best. So, you know, you have different things with respect to that, that we’re going to really have to start to do.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


One comment

  • Frankie M.

    July 8, 2025 at 3:10 pm

    Robot Ron wants things to go back to the way they were in the good old days aka the Stone Age. Back when the men were men and the women were too. Plus he doesn’t want competition from other robots.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, Liam Fineout, A.G. Gancarski, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Andrew Powell, Jesse Scheckner, Janelle Taylor, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704