In 2018 the Swedish Government released its strategy on AI, the national approach for artificial intelligence. The strategy focuses on three main areas – education, research and innovation – with the ambition that Sweden would be the best country in the world regarding applying AI. Two key areas were mentioned – the competitiveness of Swedish enterprises on a global market and the strengthening of the public sector.

Since then, the domestic discourse has changed, as Social-democratic lead governments have been replaced by a Conservative-Liberal government, the launch of ChatGPT, as well as the introduction of EUs Digital Decade with new targets for digitalisation and a proposed regulation of AI. We have therefore conducted a first evaluation of the strategy and the state of AI in Sweden. Based on official reports and interviews we recommend that the Swedish strategy on AI should …

… acknowledge the EU and accommodate for the upcoming regulations and resources within the Digital Decade,

… embrace the pluralism of Swedish governance and facilitate collaboration among authorities and different levels of administration,

... ensure the competence and the mandate of the public sector accordingly,

... be adaptable to changes in both the domestic and international discourse,

… investigate long-term funding solutions of strategic AI initiatives, and finally,

… define sustainable and ethical AI in order to facilitate responsible usage and development of AI as well as facilitate procurement.

This will require prioritisation of targets and initiatives as well as a way of assessing progress which is suitable for the Swedish context.