The initiative launched by Finland aims to train at least 1% of EU citizens on the basis of artificial intelligence. The elements of AI training allow each and every person who wants to learn more about AI. 22 EU countries participated in the project coordinated with the help of the University of Helsinki, a company specializing in the development of digital services and products, the Finnish government, the European Commission and Reaktor. In France, the University of Sorbonne is the academic partner of this online course.
AI initiative launched during Finland's EU presidency
Between July and December 2019, Finland served as the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Thanks to this position, I started my training program with the help of Reaktor and the University of Helsinki. The goal is to train at least 1% of European citizens on important aspects of AI. This will strengthen the EU's digital leadership. This diagram covers approximately 4.5 million people.
Erina Repomaki, a member of the Finnish Parliament, spoke about the importance of making this training accessible to everyone.
“If you want to succeed with AI, you need to find many ways to use it, not just develop it. It's not just the engineering realm. That's why it's so important that everyone has free access to the elements of the AI course.”
In each country, in addition to European and Finnish institutions coordinating the project, they have local academic partners to help spread the project to the public. In France, this is the University of Sorbonne.
Free courses accessible to everyone
Accessible to everyone (even non-EU citizens), this course is free and easy to access. That content lets you know what AI means, what AI can do, what it can do, and you can start manipulating AI. Theory fulfills the practice and allows all modules to be completed at the desired pace of the participants. Hanna Hagström, director of AI Business, spoke about learning through simple yet diverse exercises.
“For businesses, artificial intelligence means a whole new era of surveying. Companies willing to learn through experiments are the most advanced companies, and perhaps the leading companies.”
Around 245,000 people have started the course within the EU. This is 0.055% of the population. 15.9% of participants completed the course. This amounts to 39,000 people, and about 45% of trained people are women. Sari Lindbrom, president of the University of Helsinki, invites European citizens to participate in the elements of AI.
“Around 2% of Finns complete the course and encourage all Europeans to explore it. The key idea of our university is that science and learning belong to everyone. This course is a way to invest in citizen skills, promote lifelong learning, and meet the information needs of society.”
Courses developing within the European Union
Latvia was the first country to start the course in May 2020, Spain and Slovenia were the latest countries to offer in April 2021, while France offered the course from September 24, 2020. Additionally, Latvia has 7,200 enrollees behind it, with 21,000 or 0.4% of participants in the population, or 0.5%.
At the same time, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Italy have the highest number of enrollees completing the training, with 15-19% of participants completing the training. Sweden and Estonia are also working well, as courses were already available in these countries before Finland launched the initiative. Over 660,000 people participate in the course worldwide.
Professor Teemu Roos, an element of AI education manager, refers to the course goals he coordinates.
“Artificial intelligence is not a robot revolution, it's a daily thing that doesn't have to be mystic. This course offers science-based vaccinations for all the hype and misleading mentions to artificial intelligence. Our goal is to help citizens be involved in thinking about new AI applications and develop artificial intelligence to meet the real needs of people.”
As seen in this initiative, Finnish betting in the field of AI is education and cooperation. Other actions implemented by the Finnish ecosystem may focus on Finland, available in issue 4 of the magazine.
Translated from the elements of AI: La Finlande Viseà Formerly Les Citoyens Européens Auxbases de l'intelligence Artificiale
