In AI age governments must maintain their agency - presidents of Finland and Latvia

RIGA - In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), governments must maintain their agency, while small countries should seek niches and cooperation, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said on Tuesday.

In discussion on the impact of AI, which was hosted by Riga Stradins University (RSU), the presidents of Finland and Latvia stressed that the ongoing technological revolution is charging economy, politics, warfare and science, but that government will retain their agency if they will use AI as a tool.

Stubb noted that we are transitioning from technology without agency to AI, which potentially can have it. The Finnish president added that geopolitically, AI increases rivalry between the United States and China. Stubb said that "no technology is neutral" and there are three models of data governance - the Chinese state-centric model, the American model, which is company-centric with individual consent, and the European model, is are privacy-centric - and balancing these models can be crucial.

The Finnish president also said that democracies have a self-correcting mechanism - they can admit mistakes and change course. Authoritarian systems, on the other hand, cannot do this because they stifle criticism. That is why, in the long run, democracies will be more competitive than authoritarian regimes, Stubb argued.

Rinkevics said that both skills and investment in AI are crucial - countries that invest more "inevitably develop human skills as well". The Latvian president noted that AI is already being used in defense, notably in Ukrainian drones and anti-missile systems, which creates opportunities for the "good guys", but also challenges as the "bad guys" learn the technology just as fast. The Latvian president warned of the risks of AI misuse, including in election campaigns, and called on democracies to use AI also to protect their institutions.

On the opportunities for small countries, Rinkevics emphasized the niche approach, the advantages of small languages in AI use for training, translation, dissemination of information, and closer cooperation in the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) format. "We will not do it alone. People, resources and research need to come together," Rinkevics said.

Janis Sarts, Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, who moderated the discussion, asked whether governments will retain the ability to regulate effectively in the face of AI agency, and how small, agile countries can avoid becoming the "other object" in the AI race. He also pointed to data on the rapid decline of junior positions in a number of professions and urged young people to think about the skills that will allow them to enter the AI era with confidence.

Concluding the discussion, Stubb urged not to look to the past but invest in future technologies and infrastructure, stressing that governments should use AI as a tool rather than renounce responsibility for decisions.