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Artificial intelligence for bird watching, access to services and easing loneliness - AI experiments selected

valtioneuvoston viestintäosasto
Publication date 15.6.2018 15.31 | Published in English on 20.6.2018 at 12.10
Press release 309/2018

The Experimental Finland project of the Prime Minister’s Office and Motiva Oy looked for small-scale projects on artificial intelligence through an open application process that ended on 3 June 2018. A total of 37 proposals were send to the Place to Experiment platform, of which 21 were selected.

The aim was to find experiments on artificial intelligence that enhance wellbeing in day-to-day living. The three themes were ‘managing day-to-day routines’, ‘enhancing community spirit’, and ‘environment and us’. Applications came from companies, cities, universities, private individuals, etc., and all themes were quite well covered.

The experiments approach wellbeing in day-to-day living from varying perspectives. For the theme ‘environment and us’ an experiment was selected where machine vision is used to identify birds. The aim is strengthen the relationship of people to nature, especially among the young, by making it easier to get started in bird watching.

Many proposals were concerned with building an advice bot to help in finding services. A bot may help a student moving to a new city or a patient to navigate health services. In one of the projects the aim is to design a friendship bot to ease loneliness, while some were concerned with improving the general knowledge about the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence. In the experiment of the City of Kauniainen secondary and general upper secondary level students get to design and construct a bot of their own. Thus the students will learn what can be done with artificial intelligence and what kind of skills are needed to use it.

The experiments were selected by a jury composed of experts in AI, effectiveness and experimentation, representing both science and business. The jury saw great potential in many of the experiments. Even if the experiments selected in this process are small in scale, many of them have the potential to have great impact.

A start-up event for the selected experiments was held on 19 June and the experiments are to be completed by the end of October 2018. The financial support for each selected experiment varies between EUR 3,000 and 5,000.

More information and selected experiments

Inquiries:

Virve Hokkanen, Project Manager, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 295 160 490, [email protected]

Johanna Kotipelto, Senior Specialist, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 295 160 206, [email protected]

Lea Gynther, Senior Expert, Motiva Oy, tel. +358 9 6122 5044, [email protected]