Finland’s next general election has been set for next April 18, hopefully bringing an end to the National Coalition Party’s current slash-and-burn coalition, in which the far-right Finns Party plays a key role. Recent polls have, however, seen the latter worryingly rise to second position, becoming the main right-wing force for the first time ever. Trailing Antti Lindtman’s Social Democrats (SDP) by 6 percentage points, the Finns Party is placing its hope in polarizing the election over immigration. But as the SDP and other left-of-center parties like the Left Alliance and the Greens seek to fend off a far-right surge, a new key battleground has emerged: artificial intelligence.
Crossing over into the perennial issues of education, employment, and the environment, AI is already becoming a key issue for voters wherever elections are held globally. In Finland, a narrative is emerging that relates to the specific local terrain, culture, and economy. Unemployment is currently at 10 percent nationwide, the worst in the European Union, which makes the country particularly vulnerable to further AI-induced job loss. The Left Alliance’s leader Minja Koskela released a statement in October insisting that “The data center boom must be reflected in increasing tax revenues, jobs, and expertise, not in municipal residents’ electricity bills or the destruction of forest nature.” In doing so, she signaled that the Left Alliance, which has polled at over 12 percent for the first time ever, can be trusted to navigate the tricky terrain of ethical AI use.
This statement seems to have a major recent data center controversy in its sights. Google has been instructed by Finnish authorities to stop work on two data centers in Finland, located in Muhos and Kajaani. This followed news that the tech giant had flouted regulations by clearing hundreds of acres of forest across both sites prior to performing obligatory environmental impact assessments or ensuring that felled trees would be replaced. The extent of Google’s wrongdoing is still unclear, as recriminations pass between the firm and local authorities. In any case, the act has caused a media storm in a country defined by its relationship to nature, and particularly to its abundant forests, while drawing attention to the clear dangers AI poses for the environment. Public discontent led to a hundred protesters gathering outside Google’s Finnish headquarters in Helsinki on October 12 to demand environmental accountability. The protest signaled dismay at a foreign goliath hacking away at Finland’s natural resources.
Both conservative Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Finns Party leader and Finance Minister Riikka Purra have welcomed Google’s €13 billion investment in the country, which will result in a total of four data centers (one already completed in Hamina, the two mentioned above and one more planned in Vaala). Yet they are walking a tightrope between seeking to embrace new and vital technology and disregarding the public interest in the name of profit. Finland’s right-wing parties universally caution — along with the Left — that assurances need to be made to prevent rising electricity consumption impacting energy costs. Yet the Finns Party’s nationalist rhetoric stands in stark contrast with its actions. As the second- biggest party in the governing coalition, it too must take some responsibility for permitting a foreign tech giant to run roughshod over Finnish sensibilities. They may as well have allowed Google to destroy Moominvalley, the fictional home of Finland’s much-loved unofficial mascot, the Moomins.
Juha-Matti Mustonen, a Left Alliance candidate in Oulu (the district where Muhos and Kajaani are situated, and where I live) wrote to me in email that, “It seems Google will face no sanctions for these logging activities. In fact, it appears the company will get away scot-free with the environmental devastation it has caused. An ordinary citizen would be heading straight to prison for such actions.” Police have since launched an investigation into Google’s actions, though the episode raises major questions about the governing parties’ seriousness in defending local interests, and it gets worse if we consider the actual financial benefits. As Mustonen continues: “The government was overjoyed by Google’s €13 billion investment. However, closer examination reveals that only a small fraction of the total investment will actually remain in Finland.” This latter point was backed up by Lassi Linnanen, professor of environmental economics and management at the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, on the national broadcaster’s politics show A-talk in mid-October. Linnanen stated that Finland offers land and infrastructure, while the profits will go elsewhere.