The National Audit Office has investigated the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the public sector from 2018 to 2023 and concluded today that the results are not satisfactory. “The overall effort is too weak given the ambition for Norway to have a world-class infrastructure for artificial intelligence,” writes the National Audit Office. – We already know that the use of AI is too low, and we want to improve that, says digitization minister Karianne Tung. She says the National Audit Office’s report confirms what they have assumed. – It is also the very reason why the new ministry was established this year. The Ministry of Digitization and Administration was established on 1 January this year. Auditor General Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen nevertheless believes that the public sector is ill-prepared to adopt AI, especially in relation to the high ambitions. According to him, less than 50 percent of state enterprises have adopted AI so far. AUDITOR GENERAL: Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen. Photo: William Jobling / news Too bad The criticism from the National Audit Office is that: State enterprises work very differently and to varying degrees with AI. For example, the Ministry of Health and Care has 111 AI systems, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has none. There are still unresolved legal issues related to KI. There is a lack of quality data on which the AI systems can be trained. There is a lack of AI expertise. There are great variations in how ethical principles are safeguarded. Postdoctoral fellow Lisa Reutter has researched how the Norwegian public sector uses AI. She believes it is difficult to create AI that is responsible in public administration, because much is about citizens’ privacy, new laws and many IT systems. Tung replies that “the ministry has started work on implementing the AI regulation in Norwegian law”. – The regulations will contribute to greater predictability for Norwegian businesses and ensure that AI systems are developed and used in a responsible and ethical manner. Furthermore, we are in the process of establishing a separate, national KI inspection for this. – In addition, I have given the Directorate of Digitization the task of providing guidance on the responsible and ethical use of AI, says Tung. CRITICAL: Researcher Lisa Reutter believes that implementing AI in the public sector is a complicated process. Photo: Private – I think Karianne Tung should sit down and read the report carefully. Then she has to talk to people who have worked on this for many years. – There are project managers and data scientists in public administration who have worked with this for a long time and know what they need. What they have been asking for for many years are legal assessments and political clarifications. In this way, the minister can contribute to promoting AI in the public sector. – Among the best in the world Karianne Tung says that she will follow up on the criticism in the report. – We will present a new national digitization strategy that will follow several of the recommendations of the National Audit Office. The report will be used to strengthen national coordination within digitalisation, she says. Tung believes Norway already has an advantage in the public sector. – Norway is already among the best in the world when it comes to digitization in the public sector. Artificial intelligence is a new technology that gives us the opportunity to solve some of our biggest societal challenges, and to utilize our scarce resources in a smart and more sustainable way, says Tung. The ambition stands Earlier this year, she said she wanted 80 per cent of the public sector to use AI by 2025. Tung says the ambition of 80 per cent AI by 2025 still stands. – The ambition still stands, not because AI in itself is important, but because it can help solve challenges. We can get better hospital services, increased productivity and efficiency in case management, so that citizens have easier access to public services. Lisa Reutter believes that it is wrong to set a number-based ambition. – It doesn’t help to promise anything if you haven’t started a comprehensive change of public administration. There is a lack of coherence, budget, legal clarifications and expertise, she says. Reutter believes that politicians’ statements and ideas are often difficult to translate into concrete technologies that work in practice. – We have to recognize that technology has its limitations and is not a magic tool, she says. Instead of number-based goals, she misses concrete ambitions. – Why doesn’t anyone create goals such as “This year we will find out how we can use AI to archive case management in several agencies”, for example? asks Reutter. Published 02.09.2024, at 21.24 Updated 02.09.2024, at 21.32
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The public sector is too bad at KI – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
