‘In 2025, in Finland of the age of artificial intelligence, citizens trust AI-based systems and believe that artificial intelligence will enhance security. The age of artificial intelligence has not eroded people’s trust in society or to each other and Finland remains a trust-based society.’
The government of Finland wants AI to be ‘human-centric’ and ‘trust-generating.’ The aspiration comes in a sweeping government paper on national readiness, saying AI is more than a technology.
AI understanding should reach all aspects of Finnish society.
It should not become segregated within organizations and instead be part of operations overall. ‘Life-long learning’ is now a necessity. Every Finn should have access to adult education programs, including the possibility of a ‘learning account’ or voucher system as a way of stimulating adult education programs.
AI presents new methods, new applications, and new approaches to problem-solving and making improvements.
Finland names 11 areas for action:
- Enhance business competitiveness through the use of AI
- Effectively utilize data in all sectors
- Ensure AI can be adopted more quickly and easily
- Ensure top-level expertise and attract top experts
- Make bold decisions and investments
- Build the world’s best public services
- Establish new models for collaboration
- Make Finland a forerunner in the age of artificial intelligence
- Prepare for artificial intelligence to change the nature of work
- Steer AI development into a trust-based, human-centred direction
- Prepare for security challenges
Finland defines AI as ‘devices, software and systems that are able to learn and make decisions in almost the same way as humans,‘ and that have the ability to function ‘in a sensible way according to the task and situation at hand.’