#8 How Denmark wins the AI race - KOMPAS with Anders Søgaard

When we need to find the right recipe, find out when it's going to rain or settle an argument, AI technologies like ChatGPT are the obvious choice. Artificial intelligence has become part of everyday life for all of us.

An international AI race is underway and now Denmark is joining the sprint:

"The public sector in Denmark must be a world leader in the use of artificial intelligence," Mette Frederiksen said in March, and she will initially develop three large-scale AI projects already this summer.

Anders Søgaard is a professor of artificial intelligence, and he is confident that AI can deliver some of the technological solutions that the welfare society calls for.

The problem is that we risk basing our public sector on American technology. Denmark does not have its own AI infrastructure, which, according to Anders Søgaard, is cause for concern.

"We need to collaborate with those we want to be more dependent on. The Swedes, Norwegians and Germans face exactly the same problem, and if a model is trained in German, it will usually already be halfway decent in Danish, so of course we need to work together on these things."

Appreciate computer scientists
An important element in the AI race is that we retain the bright minds we already have here at home. According to Anders Søgaard, many computer scientists choose their profession because they want to make a positive difference in the world, but end up in the clutches of foreign tech giants.

"The people we educate in Denmark really just want to be allowed to research these technologies and do it with a clear conscience. They very rarely want the jobs they end up in, where they contribute to an American or Chinese bottom line. We are losing some incredibly important knowledge in Denmark."

According to Søgaard, the way forward is to invest a lot of resources in the development of artificial intelligence so that we can retain labor and incorporate AI into the welfare society of the future in the wisest possible way.

It seems that this message is being listened to in Parliament at the moment.