With NORA's CEO, Klas Pettersen, as moderator, Tuesday's seminar, Norway's Role in the AI Revolution, featured a debate among Norway's most well-known AI researchers, Inga Strümke and Morten Goodwin, the Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance Karianne Tung, comedian Anne-Kat. Hærland, and EVP & Head of New Tech Lab at DNB, Yngvar Ugland. The event was kicked off and concluded with musical performances by the latter and singer Espen Sande Larsen, creating an extra lively atmosphere.
Minister Karianne Tung began the conversation by talking about the importance of use of AI in Norwegian society moving forward:
"In short, I believe that we should build and secure Norway through digitalization—or artificial intelligence, for that matter. Not because digitalization or artificial intelligence is important in itself or the ultimate goal, but because of the opportunities and results that AI can bring. We absolutely must be able to harness this technology. In the coming years, we will undergo a massive green transformation of our entire society. We need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We must create a new business landscape, and within that lies potential.
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That's why we are now allocating NOK 1 billion for research on artificial intelligence, which the Research Council of Norway is working on, bringing together academia, industry, municipalities, and anyone who wants to participate in researching what this technology can do for us, the threats it entails, and, most importantly, how we can innovate. This is our investment in artificial intelligence. We will build AI infrastructure that ensures we have the right capacity, foundational models, and access to data."
After the minister's speech, Anne-Kat. Hærland gave a humorous and interesting presentation of her work with AI over the past two years, followed by a panel discussion with all five participants. There were both agreements and disagreements among the panelists, and we in the audience gained valuable insights into the different perspectives on how we should utilize AI going forward and which tools we should focus on from a societal perspective.
It was an informative and insightful debate, and we at NORA would like to thank the knowledgeable panelists for their participation!
