1,400 employees participate in KI's major AI initiative
How can AI facilitate work at KI, and how is the technology used safely? This is the focus of KI's most significant effort in staff development to date. The first sessions within the programme AI-lyftet (the AI initiative) have aroused great interest and commitment.
During the autumn and winter, around 1,400 employees and managers in the support services at Karolinska Institutet, both within professional services (GVS) and at the departments, will receive training in AI. On 22 September, the AI initiative AI-lyftet kicked off in Aula Medica.
“The goal is to raise the level of knowledge and give us a common platform to stand on. It's about using the technology where it actually makes a difference, and in a safe and responsible way,” says Anna Kilander, project manager at the Development Office at KI, which is leading the initiative
The investment is based on both the rapid development of AI and the demands placed on KI as a public authority. Among other things, the EU's AI regulation requires the knowledge of employees who use the technology in their work.
“We know that AI will change our tasks and we need to keep up with that development,” says Anna Kilander.
Both theoretical and practical knowledge
The AI initiative consists of three modules and runs until March. Participants first receive basic training on AI, its possibilities and limitations, and learn about information security, data protection and responsibility, among other things. This is followed by business-related workshops, and finally there is the opportunity for in-depth study in different areas.
“The first training sessions have been very well received,” says Anna Kilander. “Many people appreciate that KI allocates time and resources to skills development. New questions also arise, for example regarding what you can and cannot do with AI.”
Something that has particularly impressed Anna Kilander is the meeting between employees with completely different prior knowledge. The training groups have not been divided according to previous AI experience.
“Those who build their own AI solutions and those who have never even logged into an AI tool are sitting in the same room. It's cool to see how they get a common understanding,” she says.
The fact that employees from GVS and the departments meet has also had a positive side effect, she says.
“Now colleagues have discovered that they have the same challenges and issues, regardless of where they work. There has been a little less 'us and them'.”
Finding new areas of use
In the longer term, the aim is that the AI initiative will contribute to the development of KI's administrative work. During the practical, business-related, workshops, the idea is that the participants will identify work processes where AI could contribute to streamlining or improving the quality of what is delivered to the organisation.
“We hope to produce a long list of areas where we could continue to work with AI. But the important thing is that we understand both opportunities and risks and identify ways to use AI that create value,” says Anna Kilander.
To ensure that expertise is maintained and developed, there is also a network of AI ambassadors at departments and divisions, who receive in-depth training and will act as support for colleagues.
The AI initiative also includes special training initiatives for managers and management teams, with a focus on leadership in a business where AI is becoming increasingly important.
Lectures open to everyone at KI
Although the AI initiative is aimed at the support services, there has been great interest from other parts of KI, such as research and education. All employees at KI are now given the opportunity to take part in the recorded lectures from the kick-off in September.
“There are many more who have wanted to participate, so it feels great that we can make the lectures available to everyone,” says Anna Kilander.