Open letter from Nordic Startups: The promises and challenges of AI

AI must be demystified in the public eye, to help businesses invest in AI projects. Without this, we will never develop the real-world evidence and data which are essential for high quality AI and high quality regulations, which complement the economy.

There is a call for AI trainings on all levels in society, including policymakers and politicians, to democratise the AI understanding and vision. Applying AI successfully often requires a complete rethinking of business processes, and especially startups need easy access to all relevant AI tools to succeed.

AI cannot be ‘sprinkled’ on outdated structures, hoping it works. There needs to be the right external conditions to embark on a transformation. The EU market is far from one single market, and in particular when it comes to the digital economy. In a truly digitised single market, for example, data will be able to flow freely between all member states in the EU, allowing digital solutions and AI applications to enjoy as much European data as possible.

Regulation should be a last resort. But if introduced, it must be based on specific findings, be smart and set out an overall direction of use. The impact of AI varies greatly depending on the use cases - this needs to be taken into account when considering a governance framework. Regulation should avoid descriptive and restrictive rules to keep up with the fast pace of technological change, to boost innovation and new emerging tech startups.

Technical elements of AI regulations should be kept outside of statutory regulation and be laid down in standards and industry codes, in order to make regulations a collaborative process between government and industry, and to ensure that they are fit for purpose in such a fast-moving sector.