Indonesia's Quest for AI Dominance: Embracing Generative AI for Sustainable Development

INTI- Jakarta, Indonesia,  As the race for Artificial Intelligence (AI) dominance intensifies, Indonesia is making significant strides towards mastering AI technologies. With the Brooking Institute in the US stating, "Who leads Artificial Intelligence (AI) by 2030 will lead the world by 2100," it has become increasingly clear that AI supremacy holds the key to global leadership in the future.

During a Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT) meeting on March 8, 2021, President Jokowi emphasized that the competition to master AI is akin to a space war in the era of the Cold War. "Whoever controls AI holds the potential to dominate the world. In the face of the ongoing AI war, Indonesia needs to develop its own technological capabilities," he asserted.

China, the world's second-largest economy, seems poised to win the tight competition for AI supremacy. It currently leads in terms of the number of AI patents, AI investment, publications in AI research, as well as the number of AI talents and companies. However, Indonesia is not far behind.

Professor Hammam Riza, Chairman of the AI Committee at the Center for Technology & Innovation Studies (CTIS) and a renowned AI expert, stated that Indonesia has already embarked on the path to AI mastery. However, the country lacks clear regulations and a national strategy with well-defined ethical codes. Without them, AI technology, while capable of offering positive solutions such as climate change control, also poses the risk of extreme negatives, such as the emergence of "destructive robots."

During a recent CTIS meeting on May 31, 2023, Prof. Hammam Riza, who has been involved in Machine Learning technology since 1987 at BPPT, explained that Indonesia's AI technology is steadily progressing through the collaborative efforts of academia, businesses, communities, and the government, collectively known as the Quad-Helix.

Currently, there are 11 Government Research and Development Institutions, 11 universities, 6 communities, and 9 industries actively involved in the development of Artificial Intelligence in the country. Prof. Hammam also highlighted the rapid progress of AI Chatbots, with the emergence of Chat GPT4, LlaMA, LaMDA, and Megatron Turing in the fourth quarter of 2022.

AI Chatbots are an evolution from Machine Learning to Deep Learning and now into the realm of Generative AI. Generative AI facilitates human-like conversations, receiving textual inputs and responding in the form of text, voice, images, and videos.

Generative AI relies on large language models trained on extensive text datasets from the open internet, combined with human feedback. In less than six months, Generative AI technology has achieved remarkable accuracy levels of 80% to 100% in various tests, including the GRE, psychological tests, LSAT, SAT Math, and many others.

However, along with the positive impact, Generative AI has also raised concerns. For instance, it enables "live" interviews with deceased individuals or convincingly replicates speeches by public figures, leading to the spread of hoaxes. In light of these risks, a petition launched by 20,000 AI developers calls for a temporary halt to the development of Generative AI for six months to ensure responsible development and mitigate potential negative consequences.

Indonesia's AI experts, united under the Indonesian Collaborative Research and Innovation of Artificial Intelligence Industry (KORIKA), are committed to assisting the government and society in implementing Generative AI in educational activities, individual learning, and preparing AI-powered teaching materials.

Together, the AI stakeholders within the Quad-Helix alliance will support the government in adopting and leveraging AI technologies across various sectors. This includes workforce preparation through re-skilling programs, promoting diversity and sharing the benefits of AI, as well as contributing to the development of ethical frameworks and AI regulations in Indonesia.

In anticipation of the National Technology Awakening Day (Haktenas) in 2023, KORIKA, in collaboration with CTIS, will host the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Summit 2023 (AIIS 2023) from August 10-12. The summit aims to showcase the applications of Generative AI, particularly in five development sectors: healthcare, research and education, bureaucratic reform, food security, and smart mobility and cities.

Indonesia is determined to position itself as a prominent player in the AI landscape, harnessing the potential of Generative AI to drive sustainable development and secure a prosperous future. ***