Jakarta, INTI - The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in Indonesia is becoming increasingly visible in everyday life, influencing everything from social media usage to administrative work and education.
AI is now widely used across modern activities, including social media algorithms, virtual assistants, automated text generators, and AI-powered image creation tools.
Most Indonesians are considered open and adaptive toward these technological advancements.
According to data from the Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII), Indonesia’s internet penetration rate has reached 81.72 percent, equivalent to around 235 million active internet users.
A report by We Are Social also revealed that active social media users in Indonesia have reached 180 million people, or approximately 62.9 percent of the population.
More than one-third of Indonesian internet users are reportedly using AI platforms such as DeepSeek, Google Gemini, and ChatGPT on a monthly basis.
AI adoption is no longer limited to large corporations, as people from various age groups and professions have also begun integrating the technology into their daily routines.
AI Used for Content Creation and Office Work
Arief (47), a private-sector employee in Bogor, said he uses AI to create social media captions and generate content ideas.
“At first, I felt insecure seeing how creative younger people were on social media. But after discovering AI writing tools, I simply type in the key points I want, and instantly I get a polished caption draft complete with hashtags,” Arief explained.
According to him, AI helps save time, makes content more engaging, and improves social interaction in digital spaces.
Meanwhile, Laela (45), an administrative employee at a private university in Jakarta, uses AI to draft official emails and prepare monthly reports.
“In the past, replying to formal emails from supervisors, lecturers, or external parties could take an entire day because I had to carefully craft professional sentences. Now, I use AI to generate draft responses and compile monthly reports. Administrative tasks that once took hours can now be completed within minutes,” Laela said.
She considers AI a free personal assistant that allows her to focus more on strategic responsibilities.
Alka (21), a geology student in Bogor, also uses AI for brainstorming assignments and summarizing complex foreign-language materials.
“I don’t ask AI to directly complete my assignments because that would be cheating. I use it more like a discussion partner or brainstorming companion. Whenever I get stuck finding ideas or struggle to summarize difficult foreign-language material, I ask AI to break down the key points,” Alka explained.
UGM Expert Highlights Cognitive Debt Risks
The article noted that AI provides several positive impacts, including increased productivity, operational efficiency, language assistance, and new opportunities for creativity.
However, it also warned about potential negative consequences such as deepfake-based misinformation, machine-generated manipulative articles, declining critical thinking skills, and excessive dependence on AI.
Buldan Thontowi S.Psi., M.A., Ph.D., an academic from the Faculty of Psychology at Universitas Gadjah Mada, stated that relying on AI for cognitive tasks could negatively affect human thinking abilities.
“In experiments, the group that used AI to write essays turned out to be the weakest when asked to explain their essays compared to those who wrote independently,” Buldan explained.
He described this phenomenon as “cognitive debt.”
According to Buldan, excessive AI usage without actively training one’s thinking skills may gradually weaken critical reasoning abilities.
Buldan also highlighted the issue of cultural bias in AI systems, as most AI datasets are heavily based on Western references.
“AI data often comes from specific sources, primarily Western ones. As a result, when people from Muslim-majority countries or Indonesia ask questions about relationships or sexual issues, AI may generate responses based on Western values that conflict with local norms,” he said.
He believes the group most vulnerable to AI’s negative impacts is teenagers with low self-esteem who tend to accept information uncritically.
“The most vulnerable group is teenagers with low self-esteem who easily accept information without critical evaluation,” Buldan stated.
According to him, digital literacy is a crucial factor in protecting society from the harmful effects of AI.
“If young people develop critical awareness toward AI-generated information and understand that AI responses come from large language models that may not represent their society, they will be better protected,” Buldan explained.
The article emphasized that AI development in Indonesia must be balanced with stronger digital literacy, thoughtful government regulation, and greater ethical awareness among users.
“In general, healthy AI usage should enhance productivity rather than reduce it, while also ensuring that it does not disrupt social relationships,” Buldan concluded.
Conclusion
As AI adoption continues to grow rapidly across Indonesia, experts emphasize that the technology should be used as a tool to enhance productivity rather than replace critical thinking. Strong digital literacy, ethical awareness, and balanced regulation are considered essential to prevent excessive dependency and cognitive debt while ensuring AI delivers positive social impact.
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