Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, is facing widespread criticism after admitting he uses artificial intelligence tools to get “second opinions” on decisions related to governing the country.
Kristersson, the leader of the centre-right coalition government, revealed that he uses platforms like ChatGPT and the French service LeChat for advice. He also stated that many of his colleagues rely on AI tools in their daily governmental work, as reported by The Guardian.
“I use it quite often. If nothing else, just to get a second opinion,” Kristersson told Swedish business newspaper Dagens.
“What have others done? Should we think in the opposite direction? These kinds of questions.”
Concerns from Experts
However, technology experts have raised alarms over the use of AI tools in political decision-making. In an editorial, the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet accused Kristersson of falling prey to the “AI psychosis of the oligarchs.”
“You need to be very careful,” said Simone Fischer-Hübner, a computer science researcher at Karlstad University, who warned against using tools like ChatGPT for work involving sensitive information.
Despite the backlash, Kristersson’s spokesperson, Tom Samuelsson, defended the Prime Minister’s practices.
“Of course, no sensitive security information ends up there. It’s used more as a platform for brainstorming,” Samuelsson stated.
AI Can’t Replace Political Judgment
Virginia Dignum, a professor of artificial intelligence at Umeå University, stressed that AI is incapable of providing meaningful insights into political ideas and simply reflects the views of its developers.
“The more he relies on AI for simple tasks, the greater the risk of overtrust in the system,” Dignum told Dagens Nyheter.
“We need to demand that credibility can be guaranteed. We didn’t vote for ChatGPT,” she added.
