Swedish Public Administration in Transition: Implications of AI Implementation A qualitative study on how key informants perceive and understand AI implementation in the Swedish public sector and administration structures

Abstract

With fast technological development, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most revolutionary forces. Many organizations worldwide are adopting the technology, including the Swedish public sector and administration. Interviewing eight key informants who actively work with implementing AI into the Swedish public sector and administration structures, this thesis aims to investigate how they perceive and understand the implementation and what opportunities and challenges they experience. It further aims to explore how the Swedish governance model reacts to AI implementation and how this may impact the processes. With insights from institutional theory and previous research, the thesis concluded that implementing AI has opportunities, challenges, isomorphic tendencies (how organizations appear like others in their respective fields), and structural governance implications. Foremost, governance structures may impact the implementation by being decentralized and unequal in some ways, and the interoperability system may need adjustment in sharing data and digital systems. The need for a more substantial research focus on AI in the public sector and administration in general and of the Swedish context, more particularly, is further concluded.

Popular Abstract

Imagine you could do complex analyses, high-level calculations, or synthesize complex information about anything you wished within just a few clicks. Well, this is no longer an imagination. Today, there is a multitude of accessible free tools and systems supported by artificial intelligence. This was impossible only a few years ago and something many believed would never happen. Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI, is one of the most innovative technologies capable of doing processes and tasks that can save economic, human, and time resources. This is a motivational reason for people, companies, and organizations to become familiar with and use the capabilities of AI. But what is AI, what can it do, and how can we use it? Many concerns and questions are raised in the discussion of AI, with a technological acceleration running at a pace no one has ever witnessed.

This thesis has delved deeper into the implementation of AI in the Swedish public sector and administration structures. The thesis examined the case closer by interviewing eight key informants who actively work with implementing AI in the public sector and administration from a structural and operational perspective. The thesis focuses on how these informants perceive and understand the implementation of AI in the public sector and administration. With insights from institutional theory and previous research, four major themes have been identified in the data material. These four themes are 1. informants’ perceptions of the opportunities; 2. informants’ perceptions of the challenges; 3. how AI may be an isomorphic wave; and 4. structural implications concerning the Swedish governance model with AI in the public sector and administration. The thesis concluded a strong need for more research in this area. The challenges identified may be vital for the Swedish public sector and administration to ensure ethical, transparent, and fair service delivery.

• author: Fröman, Clara
• supervisor: Olle Frödin
• organization: Sociology; School of Social Work; Department of Sociology
• course: WPMM42 20241
• year: 2024
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: Artificial Intelligence, AI, Swedish public sector, public administration, opportunities, challenges, Swedish governance model.
• language: English
• id: 9161319
• date added to LUP: 2024-06-25 16:22:35
• date last changed: 2024-06-25 16:22:35