Jüri Raidla urges state reform and calls AI an ally

Estonia must reduce the cost of running the state without sacrificing the quality of its institutions, and should treat artificial intelligence as an ally and servant, lawyer Jüri Raidla told ERR’s Vikerraadio.

Raidla said Estonia was in “pretty good” condition and was not broken, but argued that reforms were needed. Population forecasts suggest the country could have between 700,000 and 800,000 people by 2100, he said, making it unrealistic to keep funding the state at its current cost.

He also cited a figure published by a senior state official showing that working insured people accounted for 49.25 percent at the start of the year. These are the people who pay taxes used to fund public services, he said.

Raidla pointed to a warning from Viljar Arakas, who leads an advisory council under the prime minister: “Even a blind person can see that on our current course we will hit a wall in 10 years.” Raidla said the remark reinforced the need to continue state reform at an increasing pace.

Since the State Reform Foundation presented 67 proposals in 2018, the issue has become harder for politicians and decision-makers to ignore, Raidla said. But many proposals remain unimplemented, and he also sees a serious erosion of the rule of law, citing public debate over cameras, bank accounts and health data.

Among the proposals he considers most important is halving administrative procedure deadlines, which he said would require the state and public authorities to work twice as quickly. Raidla said the state needs to be put in order both organizationally and in the way it operates.