STOCKHOLM (Chatnewstv.com) — Sweden, already one of the world’s most digitalized countries, is putting artificial intelligence to work across government agencies, from tax services to hospitals, in a push officials say will boost efficiency and strengthen competitiveness.
“Taxpayers should get more for their money, which is one of the overarching goals of the Government’s AI policy,” the Ministry of Finance said in announcing new initiatives.
In May, Stockholm unveiled its Digitalisation Strategy 2025–2030, which places AI at the center of efforts to modernize the public sector. A dedicated AI strategy will follow in the first half of 2026.
“AI has great potential to streamline the public sector and improve public service,” Public Administration Minister Erik Slottner said.
“AI solutions can also address many of the challenges facing municipalities and regions that have declining populations. By reducing the amount of time spent on administration, workloads can be lightened and more time can go towards core activities.”
Authorities say the approach is already paying dividends. After Sweden’s first outbreak of African swine fever, AI image-recognition tools helped monitor wild boar in Västmanland, allowing the country to declare itself free of the virus in record time. The Forest Agency also deployed AI to detect spruce bark beetle infestations using satellite and flight data, helping prevent widespread forest damage.
Chatbots such as “Penni” at the Swedish Pensions Agency and “Skatti” at the Tax Agency now handle routine inquiries, while AI systems at the Social Insurance Agency and Public Employment Service speed up case processing. The Unemployment Insurance Inspectorate has built its own AI model to spot erroneous benefit payments that funds struggled to identify.
Other projects are focused on language and archives. The National Library has trained its own AI to transcribe speech to text, including dialects, and the National Archives uses AI to decipher 17th- to 19th-century handwritten documents for digitization.
In health care, Uppsala University Hospital is testing AI-assisted cameras to monitor patient movements and prevent falls among older people. Several regions use AI to analyze samples and X-rays, while Nacka Municipality is trialing transcription tools to reduce paperwork for social workers.
“Sweden’s strength lies not only in innovation, but also in how that innovation is made widely available and usable in our society,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
“It is essential to our future prosperity that we continue to be a forerunner in new technologies, and the steps we’re taking now are laying the groundwork for this. This will strengthen Swedish competitiveness and make our country wealthier.”
