In January 2020, Norway unveiled its national artificial intelligence strategy, outlining key policy initiatives to harness AI's potential while safeguarding individual rights. The strategy focuses on expanding AI education and training programmes, strengthening AI research, and enhancing AI innovation in both public and private sectors. It also aims to establish ethical AI principles, create AI-friendly regulations, build robust data infrastructure, and deploy secure, high-capacity telecommunications.
Norway has placed ethics at the centre of its AI approach, adopting both the EU ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI and the OECD AI principles. The strategy emphasises developing fair, reliable and transparent AI systems. For public sector AI use, the government aims to support value creation, facilitate data sharing among agencies, and review legal barriers, especially around data protection. It also seeks to ensure transparency and explainability of AI systems and issue guidelines to help overcome uncertainties.
Norway implements the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) through its Personal Data Act. The Norwegian Data Inspectorate (Datatilsynet) actively enforces data protection rules and has issued guidelines on various AI-related issues. Key actions by the Datatilsynet include publishing a report on AI and privacy challenges, creating a regulatory sandbox for responsible AI development, issuing warnings about data scraping risks, and imposing significant fines for GDPR violations.
While Norway has not yet ratified the modernised Convention 108, its implementation of GDPR provides citizens with rights regarding automated decision-making. The Council of Europe's recommendations on algorithmic systems, which Norway supports, call for high levels of transparency, especially for high-risk AI systems.
The Norwegian Consumer Council has urged the government to support a general ban on facial recognition in public spaces, citing privacy concerns. This remains an area of ongoing debate.
Norway actively participates in Nordic-Baltic and broader international AI initiatives. It has signed declarations on AI cooperation with other Nordic-Baltic countries, endorsed the OECD AI Principles, supported international efforts to regulate autonomous weapons systems, and joined global statements on responsible military AI use.
Norway consistently ranks among the top nations for human rights protection and transparency. Its AI strategy specifically addresses preserving minority language rights, including for the indigenous Sámi people.
This country report is our interpretation and summary of the "CAIDP Artificial Intelligence & Democratic Values Index 2023". The full report can be found here - https://www.caidp.org/reports/aidv-2023/