Helpdesk for AI policy? EU launches strategy for AI use 

Now, we Europeans have been gifted with a new policy strategy. This time it is the European Commission that is launching a strategy for the use of AI from Brussels - the Apply AI Strategy. Here at home, we are probably getting a little tired of strategies - and we are still waiting for the Swedish AI strategy. But let's take a closer look at what they have put together in Brussels. 

The strategy marks an important shift - from regulation to actual application of artificial intelligence - which TechSverige welcomes. With what is called an AI First Policy, the Commission shows that the focus is now on using technology to strengthen Europe's competitiveness, create innovation and solve societal challenges.  

The strategy is in line with TechSweden's and the industry's view of AI as a tool for growth and social benefit. When companies get better access to data, skills and the right conditions to use AI, there will be ripple effects throughout society. AI is already adding great value and is being used successfully to shorten healthcare queues, detect diseases earlier and optimize energy use. Look, for example, at those who TechSverige has named AI Swede of the Year in recent years.

The strategy identifies a number of so-called flagship projects in a number of sectors such as electronic communications, health and energy. At times, however, the Commission is flying a false flag - it has simply listed previously announced projects under these headings. Other things come across as a bit lame. What is written about intellectual property rights is defensive and is unlikely to create the right conditions for copyright, for example, in a digital era. 

The strategy highlights skills shortages as one of the most limiting bottlenecks and the Commission specifically mentions that AI skills should be integrated early in the education system. TechSverige shares this view. The government needs to clarify the role of schools in the work on the national AI strategy. Anything else is short-sighted. If Sweden is serious about standing strong in an AI-driven future, AI skills and digital understanding must start to be built early.  

The Commission is following the lead of TechSverige in announcing prizes and proposing to use competitions to speed up development. One prize is access to European computing capacity for those who develop new drugs for Alzheimer's or cancer, for example. The Commission will also organise competitions for those who develop new cutting-edge AI models to access EuroHPC's supercomputers. In our report AI as a tool, we proposed the creation of ten high-profile AI innovation prizes with the same prize money as the Nobel Prize - 11 million SEK.

When it comes to funding the strategy, however, it is a rather empty barrel that rattles. The Commission wants to reallocate one billion euros from other areas to what is promised in the strategy. What can you say? The Commission could certainly have bought the Swedish AI company Sana, which was sold for SEK 10 billion recently, and actually given some tips to the lawyers who handled the deal. Others are more determined in their AI investments - Canada is investing more, SEK 16 billion, in computing power alone.  

Now, the strategy may not be the main tool for funding AI in the EU. But it is an important issue. Of global AI investment, 60% has gone to the US - ten times the share that has gone to the EU. Looking more closely at the US, we can note that in 2021, US civilian agencies spent $1.5 billion on AI (more than the Commission's billion). In the same year, private actors invested $340 billion in the US. The bottom line is that no matter how hard we try, EU public investment cannot be the way forward. What is needed is a better environment for European and international capital to invest in AI in the EU.  

The last section of the strategy deals with governance and coordination. Apparently, the Commission already needs to tweak them - after all, the AI Regulation has not even fully entered into force yet. Nor do you feel the strategic wind blowing through the room when the Commission repeats its proposal for an AI Act Service Desk for questions and answers on the AI Regulation as part of the strategy. Advice and support is welcome, but perhaps not appropriate in a strategic approach. One thought that comes to mind is that, if the system already needs to be rearranged and a helpdesk is being presented as a proposal of some merit, then perhaps it was not so well designed in the first place.  

Well then. Most importantly, the European Commission is signaling a shift where we move from AI administration to AI use in the EU. It is urgent. We need AI power across the economy - data, computing power, skills and innovation.  

The strategy has its merits and its shortcomings, but it also makes it clear that Sweden and the government need to remain engaged in Brussels' handling of AI policy. The scope for things to go wrong is by no means eliminated by the strategy, nor is it enough to refer to the helpdesk in some basement at Place Schuman in Brussels. 

Fredrik Sand
Industrial policy expert