Finland will establish an expert group to examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping foreign policy, security and global power, with recommendations due to Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen by the end of November.
The group will assess the implications of AI for Finland and Europe, including national security, sovereignty and strategic competitiveness.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs said the group will examine both risks and opportunities linked to the spread of AI and consider how Finland should strengthen its international position as the technology affects relations between states.
“Finland must prepare for the changes that the AI revolution brings to international politics and security,” Valtonen said.
She said public debate has focused on the effects of AI on employment and the economy, while its influence on state sovereignty, security and the international balance of power has received less attention.
The working group will be chaired by Patrik Gayer, Vice President of Global Affairs at NestAI.
Its members include Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal and an AI researcher, Aalto University professor Vili Lehdonvirta, European Council on Foreign Relations policy fellow Janka Oertel, London School of Economics professor Luis Garicano, former HackerOne and MySQL chief executive Mårten Mickos, and PostScriptum founder and chairman Peter Sarlin.
The Foreign Ministry has also established a secretariat to support the group. Members will consult Finnish ministries as well as domestic and international experts before submitting their conclusions.
Valtonen also placed AI at the centre of a speech at Chatham House in London this week, arguing that Europe needs the capacity to make its own choices as technology changes the distribution of economic and political power.
“Not confidence as posture, and certainly not as nostalgia. Rather confidence as capability: the confidence that comes from knowing that Europe can choose for itself and decide its own destiny on its own terms,” she said.
Finland’s foreign policy approach to AI includes cooperation with selected international partners, support for governance based on international law and human rights, and efforts to ensure that new technologies do not restrict the ability of individuals or states to act.
Valtonen has a background in technology. She holds degrees in information technology and economics and business administration and worked as an AI programmer and technology entrepreneur before entering politics. Her 2005 master’s thesis examined an error-correcting neural network.
HT