The Nordic State of AI

“Our job in the government is to help them better understand the principles of AI and to overcome these fears, while still using AI responsibly. As public authorities, we have a special responsibility to ensure that citizens’ data are handled securely, and that decisions that affect individuals are correct and transparent. I believe that this is possible, and that AI will be essential for providing better public services in the future.”

“It is essential that we track closely the state of AI in the Nordics as AI continues to be the major game changer in the industry and society for years to come.”

“I believe the adoption of AI in Sweden is very likely to continue to accelerate in most industries, there is no discussion any longer whether it will impact businesses or no. The top use cases that I see most organizations working on, with various levels of maturity and where AI is creating an impact are; the ‘contact center automation’, (product) ‘feature enhancement - optimization’ and ‘risk analytics’. ”

“Looking at Denmark’s AI scene from a wider perspective, NLP-based products are seeing more backing now than five years ago, and investment volume is slowly climbing. We’re at the dawn of a golden age of language understanding, and AI penetrates all academic domains, not just Computer Science. With most cutting-edge NLP research performed on English content, local languages often become a distant second priority.”

“The use of AI in the Nordics is developing fast, and as our report suggests we are moving into a more mature phase in AI deployment. AI is not considered as a standalone solution anymore, but as an inseparable part of products and services. Many AI startups from only a few years back have disappeared, not because of decreasing AI investments, but rather because of a focus shift in how AI is utilized."

”AI has a key role in improving productivity, boosting the economy and complementing humans, which partially offsets shortages in human talent. It also has the potential to address challenges from the energy crisis to climate change and sustainable development. The key to unlocking this potential is developing and studying AI systems and solutions that assist, rather than by-pass, humans.”

"Nordic-level collaboration plays a crucial role in AI development in Sweden. We know from the past that research and teamwork played a critical role in developing new telecommunication technology generations with Nokia, Ericsson, and many others. Although the main industrial sectors are quite different from one another in Nordic countries, strong collaboration between private and public sectors and academia is vital."

“Currently, there’s a strong pull from the consumer’s side for more sustainable products and services as well as data transparency. Older companies are being forced to adapt to new business models in a rapidly changing competitive environment. For example, global technology giants have scaled their expertise and AI capabilities to new industries such as healthcare and consumer retail.”

"The initial hype over what AI can accomplish using large amounts of data and advanced algorithms is beginning to subside. Now, it must also be possible to explain how artificial intelligence arrives at its predictions, so that it is no longer a mystery which no one fully understands, but one which we can use to base a substantial number of important decisions."

“Something Denmark shares with the Nordics is a societal interest in what we are doing in AI. However computational power, as well as lack of relevant data, continue to be a challenge all across Nordics.”

“We really need diversity both in roles developing AI algorithms but also among the people building solutions around algorithms. First and foremost for the sake of a better and more equal, future-proof future, but also because according to the World Economic Forum there will be 97 million jobs emerging by 2025 majority requiring skills in AI, engineering etc. We have now the opportunity to shape the industry and we can't let it pass.”

"For all of the Nordic countries, I would like to see more Nordic collaboration. We already share many strengths, such as our common values, trust in public authorities, and a lot of data having been collected over a long period of time."