Professor Pekka Abrahamsson from GPT-Lab at Tampere University participated in Minister of Local Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen roundtable discussion on 27 August at the House of the Estates in Helsinki.
The discussion focused on how Finland can strengthen its position in the AI transformation. Organised by the Finnish Ministry of Finance, the event brought together representatives from research, the public sector and industry.
At the heart of the discussion was the role research could play in supporting AI adoption and transformation in the Finnish public sector. Participants also explored how collaboration between research, public administration and industry could be strengthened, and what concrete actions Finland should take over the next year.
Abrahamsson introduced the “Marjatta Challenge”. Marjatta represents an experienced public servant who knows, through decades of work, how rules are applied in practice, how exceptional cases are handled and why systems operate the way they do. Much of this knowledge has never been captured in guidelines or information systems. As experienced professionals retire, decades of accumulated knowledge risk disappearing just as public organisations are beginning to introduce new AI systems.
“AI is entering public administration at a time when decades of institutional knowledge are at risk of disappearing. Research can help us capture that knowledge, turn it into something we can test and verify, and make sure the AI systems we build actually understand the reality they are expected to operate in. This is where researchers need to work side by side with public-sector experts.” Abrahamsson says.
Abrahamsson sees an opportunity for research to take a more active role in this transformation. One approach would be to bring researchers and public-sector experts much closer together: researchers working inside public organisations and public servants joining research teams to work side by side on real processes and data.
Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson’s Marjatta Challenge continued to spark conversation even after the roundtable had ended. The next steps will show how research and public administration move forward together as the AI transformation continues.
