Finland looks to democratise the wild west of artificial intelligence – ComputerWeekly.com

Finland has set itself apart globally when it comes to the understandingand application ofartificial intelligence (AI). At the heart of this sustained and purposeful effort is tech enabler and partner Reaktor, whose Elements of AI course continues to prove that AI is not just for industry.

In fact, what AI is proving to be in Finland is the perfect weapon to harness a wild west of opportunity. And in doing so, the country and in particular its capital, Helsinki is making the use of AI safer and more ethical.

AI is not just a tool for cryptocurrency, banking, marketing and high-level forecasting artificial intelligence and machine learning, instead, are being sold in Finland as a universal model a tool that can facilitate hobbies, occupations and areas of study across society.

The only difference between AI application in this broadest sense, and its current cliched perception, is education. And that is where Finland, more specifically Helsinki, Reaktor and Elements of AI arefocusing their efforts.

TeemuRoos, professor of computer science at the University of Helsinki, who is lead instructor behind the Elements ofAI course, said: To use an example, I came across a student on the course whose hobby was sewing. She explained to me the art of drawing out patterns on paper and needing that vision ahead of time of what youre looking to produce. She wanted to see if she could apply AI to this process, and I not knowing anything about sewing at all just said go for it.

Id say the sametosomeone in any of the arts, ormanuallabour,or bus driving, or any application you could possibly think of. The real big opportunity with AI isnt what we see in thought leadership articles or in industry magazines, its this wild west of everyday use.And thats why its so important for everyone to have at least a basic understanding of it.

Roosis also the leader of the AI Education programme at the FinnishCentre for AI. And his championing of this AI for everybody notion has already led tomore than 750,000people choosingto learn at least the basics of artificial intelligence.

Theoverall programme comprises an Introduction to AI segment, and a Building AI portion, where students of all ages and from all backgrounds are firstly introduced to the basics of how artificial intelligence works, before delving into its applicatory attributes.

But perhaps the courses most significant contribution toAIs development in society is its focus on ethics.

Stories around biases when it comes to facial recognition or racial profiling are not uncommon in industry, but too few readers acknowledge the fact that computers are not biased. People are biased, and the data being fed into these machines would have to be skewed initially to yield such unfavourable results.

Id say there are equal amounts of information and misinformation out there, saidMegan Schaible, an American who moved from the UK to Finland after meeting entrepreneurs from Helsinki, and learning about the approach to tech development that existed there. Now, as COO of Reaktor, she is a trailblazer for the democratisation of technology and associated applications.

Democratisation is all about creating something with every type of end-user in mind something that users of AI dont always do, and that many people dont know enough about, said Schaible. For example, of all the people who have taken a massive open online course with Harvard and MIT, it was found that 85% of them already had a bachelors degree.

So often, tech courses are marketed as something that is democratising education, when really theyre just exacerbating the gap something that makes no sense when the tools in question do applyto,and do impact,everyone.

Of Elements of AIs 750,000 students, 40% are women almost double the average of other online computer science sources. And, asRoosnoted, a vast portion come from backgrounds outside of academia, or data science or high-level enterprise. They are simply members of the population who either want to learn about the artificial intelligence wave that is impacting how they make choices in their everyday lives; or to find ways to apply it to their own situations and activities.

Or both, hopefully, said Schaible.

This focus on ethics and democratisation is not just significant from an everyday user perspective, either. Evolving parallel to trends such as sustainability (in all its forms), data privacy, cyber security and ethical sourcing, as more people become aware of the pitfalls or misuses associated with AI, it will force those organisations currently dominating the AI conversation to behave more responsibly.

This aspect of consumer powerand pressureis especially important, as it can only come from education and knowledge, said Schaible. But to create a more general understanding of ethics in AI is to also help protect businesses that have perhaps fallen into traps when developing their infrastructures or strategies.

Here in Europe, the EUespeciallyis likely to hit down hard on companies that fail to meet certain standards around AI democratisation, as this trend evolves. So, in this vein, EU countries and businesses have an opportunity to get ahead of the curve and be a bit more proactive about how to tailor these solutions for the benefit of everyone, not just certain demographics.

But whyisFinlandleading the way?

Schaiblechose to make Helsinki her home in the knowledge that inclusivity in the tech realm would be a viable modelthere. It isnt the case everywhere, andRooseven said the uptake for Elements of AI could only be so high in Finland.

He added:We have a global uptake of the course, but I have noticed thatpeople from English-speaking countries find it more difficultto read a block of information, think critically about it, and then formtheirown opinion, than Finnish-speaking students.

In Finland, Ithink our school system prepares people wellforbeing able to critically read packetsof informationand not just take things at face value. And once you get past the basics of what AI is, that really gives people an advantage to dissect, whether its use is ethical or reliable,or not.

Essentially, Helsinki has become anon-hierarchal, tech-savvy and socially inclinedhub, promoting how the future of AI should look. The fact that the influence of Reaktor and Elements of AI is already international (and growing) is hugely promising, but it continues to beunderpinned bythe Finnish domesticpopulation, of which more than 4% have now taken the course, said Schaible.

When you build something that is for all people, you see results on the other side that are much more impactful, she added. In a way, thats a great reflection ofwhy AI needs to be democratised in the first place.

We missed the boat with the internet and it just sort of took over without requisite regulation or control.With AI, we know both the positive and negative implications these technologies can have, so to work with people from all backgrounds to take control of that situation can only be a good thing.

In essence, Finland is leading the charge to both champion, and tame, thatAI wild west.

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Finland looks to democratise the wild west of artificial intelligence - ComputerWeekly.com