University of Indonesia (UI) Digital Communications Observer Firman Kurniawan said Indonesia needs to pay attention to society's needs in developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

"For Indonesia, which has a population of 278 million people, it seems necessary to study artificial intelligence more seriously for the benefit of the Indonesian people," said Firman when contacted by ANTARA, Wednesday.

He said that imported artificial intelligence technology could not be fully adopted by Indonesian society because basically the function of AI from other countries and the needs and cultural values of society were not always in harmony.

“We cannot fully incorporate German-developed artificial intelligence or Japanese-developed artificial intelligence. "The society is different, the patterns are different, the algorithms are different from the algorithms of Indonesian society," said Firman.

"When we want to capture what the people want, languages in Indonesia are already diverse, there are regional languages from Sabang to Merauke, if these are read by machines made in America, English, German and Japanese, they are not readable in Indonesia," he added.

Therefore, Firman said, Indonesia needs to have an institution that specifically studies, plans and implements the AI technology that society needs here.

In contrast to developed countries which use AI to streamline production processes without human labor because of their limited population, Indonesia, which has a larger population, should not be a victim of AI technology which has the potential to reduce employment opportunities.

Firman also emphasized the importance of educating the public regarding the use of AI so that Indonesia is ready to fully adopt this technology.

In developing AI technology, according to him, Indonesia has advantages in human resources who are competent in their fields. However, human resources need to be supported by careful and well-coordinated planning and evaluation.

"We need a technology leader, Elon Musk from Indonesia, who is the architect who designs what technological developments will be achieved in the next five to ten years and how to achieve them," said Firman.

Previously, President Joko Widodo, in his speech when delivering the government's statement on the 2024 FY APBN Bill and its financial note which was read today, touched on the use of artificial intelligence technology.

He assessed that digitalization and artificial intelligence will dominate global and Indonesian economic life, so that technology adoption with the right strategy can provide significant benefits.

"Sooner or later, the development of digitalization and artificial intelligence will also become increasingly important and dominate world economic life, including Indonesia. "The adoption of technology in the economy can provide significant benefits if faced with the right strategy," said the President.