About this episode
Summary:Anastassia and Marion Loken discuss the advancements and challenges of AI in Norway, highlighting the country’s high level of digitization, trust in institutions, and historical mathematical expertise. They discuss the development of a Norwegian LLM, literacy programs at the national and corporate levels, and ethical considerations surrounding the development and use of ML and genAI technologies. Marian Loken is a visionary leader in digitalization, data analytics, and AI, currently serving as VP of Insights and Analytics at Strawberry. She has held senior roles at major organizations, including FINN.no, Schibsted Marketplaces, NAV, McKinsey & Company, and Norsk Tipping. Her leadership has been acknowledged with inclusion in Norway's Top 50 Women in Tech list for 2025, highlighting her impact on the tech industry and her commitment to empowering organizations through technology and data.Key Takeaways:In Norway, a high level of digitization, institutional trust, and math literacy foster the adoption and development of AI.Norway is one of the few countries with a large Norwegian-language model. Its development faces initial challenges, but after three years advanced.Norway follows the EU AI Act, as the country is focused on AI ethics. This includes paying attention to the engineering level of genAI technologies, where rules are set by builders and reflect their ideology and beliefs. Transparency is key to adopting genAI technologies, and it primarily concerns the engineering layer.Motor insurance is one of the early adopters of AI, offering immediate claims payouts once the insured sends a picture of the damage.Data quality is imperative to any AI program.Culture and change management are key to delivering on AI. Communicating the ‘why’ and ‘how’ around AI adoption is important to deliver on personalized technologies, e.g., addressing the gambling addiction in the national gambling industry.
