Editorial: AI Is the New Electricity, but Finns Have a Specific Job

AI is becoming infrastructure. Not a tool, not a feature, not a vendor — infrastructure, in the same sense that electricity became infrastructure in the early 20th century. Once that transition completes, the question is not whether you use it; it is what role you play in shaping it.

Finland’s specific job

Finland will not become the next AI superpower. We are too small, our market is too narrow, our domestic capital base is too thin. But that does not mean we are bystanders.

Our specific job is to be the country that runs AI well. Best-in-class deployment in healthcare. Best-in-class use in education. Best-in-class regulatory clarity that lets startups build without legal panic. Best-in-class trust between citizens and the AI services they interact with.

Other countries will build the foundation models. Our job is to build the operating system on top — and to prove that AI can be deployed in a way that strengthens, rather than erodes, public trust.