Aarhus Municipality develops its own AI assistant: The showdown with Big Tech has begun

Aarhus Municipality is now investing in its own AI solution instead of using commercial platforms from international tech giants. This is according to TV2 Østjylland, which has interviewed Bo Fristed, head of the municipality’s Department of Innovation, Technology and Creativity.

The assistant is based on an open source model from Canada that has been adapted to Danish conditions. The system is powered by DTU’s supercomputer Computerome at Risø, which according to the municipality gives full control of the data.

“This means that no data is sent out of the country. It stays in our closed environment. That way, we have certainty about how it will be handled,” says Bo Fristed to TV2 Østjylland.

The municipality expects 28,000 employees to have access to the AI assistant in the coming months. It will help analyze large amounts of information and suggest solutions – similar to systems like ChatGPT, but at a much lower cost.

According to Bo Fristed, the financial calculations are clear:

“If 18 percent of our 28,000 employees can save about 20 minutes a day by using artificial intelligence, that equates to 76,000 hours a year,” he says to TV2 Østjylland.

Aarhus will be the first municipality in Denmark to use a model like this, but the municipality hopes that others will follow suit. The plan is that the solution can be shared with other municipalities, regions and government agencies.

The City of Copenhagen has also previously announced that it wants to find European alternatives to Microsoft’s solutions.

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