Artificial Intelligence: Peter and the wolf or the citizen and AI

AI Digital services eHealth Welfare technology

We live in a world where change has become part of our daily lives. A time characterized by increased prosperity and development for most of the world's population. This has been achieved through new technologies and medical breakthroughs.

Words that in previous decades had a theoretical meaning, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, are now a reality. A reality that we encounter daily through services such as search engines, decision support in health and social care or IoT sensors that all follow our digital footsteps and collect information that becomes Big Data and may be used in AI contexts. Talking about AI is like talking about vehicles, which in turn consist of different classes/groups. Many people today divide AI into three groups:

  • Weak/Narrow AI - Narrow AI is the AI we have produced until now. A rudimentary form of AI that is unable to act outside of what it was produced for.
  • Strong/General AI - is for many theorists a dream and the ultimate goal. When we reach Artificial General Intelligence, we will be able to communicate with an artificial intelligence as with a human.
  • Artificial Super Intelligence - does not exist at all and it is not even certain that it can become a reality.

Is AI the wolf of our time?

Lars Lundberg, Industry policy expert IT&Telecom companies

Perhaps if we choose to see it in a dystopian context where we humans no longer have control. Contexts that probably cannot happen at all, as the development of AI today is mainly driven by commercial interests that operate in areas where better working conditions and efficiency can be created.
On the other hand, if we choose to believe in the good that AI can bring us, we will have a world full of opportunities where we as humans no longer have to work in environments that are bad for us, both physically and mentally.

Many of us now see that AI can create better lives and additional wealth for large groups in the healthcare sector - more people can be treated with better services at the same cost. Can we then allow groups crying wolf to stop development and, in doing so, allow jobs to be created outside Sweden? No, absolutely not, we must be more forward-looking to create more jobs, new services and products that build a future prosperous Sweden!