The University of Oxford data scientist: artificial intelligence increases the public sector efficiency, but the state becomes more distant from people

Experts in the field recognised that creating a personalised state requires comprehensive planning and discussion in society as the balance between people’s privacy and state proactivity needs to be found.

The keynote speaker of the conference, Keegan McBride, lecturer in artificial intelligence, government and policy at the Oxford Internet Institute of the Oxford University, stressed in his presentation that the future of the digital state is personal, proactive and powered by data: “By strategically leveraging artificial intelligence and other emerging digital technologies, new digital states will be closer to their populations than ever before,” said McBride. “Getting this right will lead to improvements in quality of life and happiness, improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the public sector and improve the accessibility and availability of all services offered.”

However, according to McBride, this comes with risks, as decreased in-person contact with the public sector will lead to a system that is increasingly distant. “There are serious implications for how we understand the state, government and society,” said McBride.

The survey by the Foresight Centre shows that residents of Estonia are moderately open to personalisation of public services and benefits. Nevertheless, people are concerned about data security and afraid to lose benefits. Researchers and experts in the field stress that proactive data analysis should not take place behind the citizen’s back.

Urmet Lee, Director General at Statistics Estonia, emphasised in his presentation that new technological solutions must be found for better use of data. “To ensure better use of data as a national asset with great potential, the data of the public sector needs to be organised and technological solutions must be found that, similarly to e-elections, would guarantee secure and efficient data processing for better services,” said Lee. In his opinion, this would significantly reduce the state’s administrative burden, improve the quality of data and link data anonymously, without excessively encroaching on the privacy of the data owner.

The participants of the conference agreed that when personalising state services, the focus will inevitably be on the issue of state proactivity and its extent. This means that the data processing and the offer of services will not be initiated by the request of the person, but by the state, based on the presumed will of the person.

Karmen Turk, litigation attorney and partner at the TRINITI Law Firm, who participated in the panel discussion ‘Is more extensive personalisation of state benefits and services indicated and feasible?’, stressed the importance of finding a balance between privacy and state proactivity.

“The core of the personalised state is the decision-making right of the state to connect with a person on its own initiative,” said Turk. “This crosses the line of everyone having the right to be left alone and undisturbed by the state. This is the classic meaning of the right to privacy. State proactivity, on the other hand, is a necessary response to the unfathomable abundance of information and the digital gap in society. Does this have more weight? If we plan this carefully, ensure the necessary rules and protective measures in the legislation and seriously consider the impact of each function of the personalised state on each of us and society, then it could and should perhaps be the direction of our future.”

At the conference, the Foresight Centre presented the report ‘The future of the personalised state in Estonia. Scenarios up to 2040’. It aims to open up opportunities for public sector services and benefits to consider each person’s individuality and situations better than before, increasing the wellbeing of people and the effectiveness of services and benefits. The new report (in Estonian) is available at https://arenguseire.ee/raportid/personaalriigi-tulevik-eestis-stsenaariumid-aastani-2040.