Background
The urgency of ethical AI extends beyond the tech community to society at large. Policymakers globally seek guidance on governing AI. This report aims to explore the value proposition in prioritizing ethical AI development for Nordic businesses, delving into arguments for and against this focus and why mere ‘functional’ AI isn’t sufficient.
Ethical and responsible AI can be described as principles, guidelines and practices that steer and inform the design, development, deployment and operation of AI, and the field of questions that accompany how AI impacts its surroundings (e.g. humans, society, flora, fauna, and the planet).
Two thoughts at the same time
Increasing awareness of potential negative implications of AI in combination with an evolving regulatory landscape means that businesses need to balance rapid AI innovation with managing the risks of AI.
These dual priorities of realizing value from AI while handling the risks, can be reconciled through the adoption of ethical and responsible AI. It has potential to bring many benefits to the organization adopting these practices, as well as society at large. These collective findings point to five categories that describe the potential benefits companies can see realized. Ethical and responsible AI practices can:
- Enable faster adoption of new technologies and help realize the full business value of AI by preventing potential risks from materializing, which could halt or stop the development of AI solutions and use-cases
- Help ensure compliance with regulation and industry standards for AI, so that organizations can avoid costs of non-compliance and gain easier access to global markets
- Contribute to building trust with key stakeholders such as customers and employees, which could support with increasing use or adoption of AI-products and services, as well as attracting and retaining top talent
- Support industrialization of AI by creating standardized processes and practices that can be scaled across the organization, contributing to operational efficiency
- Facilitate positive impact on the environment, people and society from the use of AI
”When we started working on building a Nordic Ethical AI Ecosystem in 2021, we discovered that a lot of people where asking the same questions. We lacked a compilation of data related to the Nordics in these questions. This report evaluates the benefits of Nordic companies taking an ethical and responsible approach to AI and data”.
Olivia Rekman, Innovation Adviser
The rise of generative AI as a driver
As Nordic businesses mature their AI capabilities; ethical and responsible AI practices can be assumed to increase as well. The rise of generative AI also supports this trend, as 68% of surveyed leaders from businesses in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway stated that the availability and development of generative AI has increased their interest in ethical and responsible AI.
Despite AI-influenced revenue of companies in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway doubling between 2019 and 2022, most are still only experimenting with AI (81%). In 2023, some surveyed companies in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway had also started piloting generative AI (22%). 28% of survey respondents said that they had developed formal ethical guidelines for AI, but only 22% had operationalized them across their organization. Half of surveyed participants stated that their organization had not taken any action at all to develop ethical guidelines for AI.
Ethical and responsible AI recommendations
Based on the collective findings presented in this report, five recommendations are proposed to increase adoption of ethical and responsible AI and capture the above benefits. These are primarily aimed at businesses developing and using AI, as well as Nordic decision-makers with ability to help enable these outcomes:
- Implement Responsible AI by Design: Move from focusing on reactive compliance to proactive development of capabilities that enable ethical and responsible development and use of AI
- Foster Board and C-Suite Buy-in: Increase board and c-suite awareness of AI opportunities and risks to obtain their sponsorship of ethical and responsible AI initiatives
- Invest in Training and Education: Upskill and educate teams on the risks of AI and the benefits of ensuring ethical and responsible use of AI
- Identify and Apply Best Practice: Develop industry guidelines and methodologies how to incorporate ethical and responsible AI requirements in AI development and deployment, and share successful examples
- Enable Ecosystem Collaboration: Foster collaboration along the AI value chain to mitigate AI risks, prioritize transparency and enable cross-industry and cross-national capability transfer
Conclusion
There is no doubt AI presents both immense opportunities and formidable challenges for businesses. As executives prioritize scaling AI to drive business value, it is imperative to simultaneously address the ethical and regulatory dimensions inherent in AI development and deployment. By adopting ethical and responsible AI practices, Nordic businesses can harness the transformative potential of AI while safeguarding against its risks.
Fostering collaboration within the Nordic AI ecosystem can help accelerate this journey as many organizations will face similar challenges. Enabling organizations to build on the experiences and learnings of others within and beyond their industries can potentially cultivate a more unified and effective approach to ethical and responsible AI. This will enable them to not only navigate the evolving regulatory landscape but also foster sustainable growth and societal advancement in an increasingly AI-driven world.
