Indonesian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs And UN Women Launch Humanist AI SARI Chatbots, Equipped With Various Regional Languages

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with UN Women officially launched a chatbot with artificial intelligence (AI) SARI or Indonesian Migrant Artificial Friends on Monday, which is equipped with various regional languages to suit the needs of Indonesian migrant workers abroad.

"The launch of SARI for us at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an achievement, for approximately 2018 we have had two digital-based applications, first the Indonesian Citizen Care Portal, the second the Safe Travel," explained Acting Director General of Protocol and Consular Affairs of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andy Rachmianto on the sidelines of the launch of SARI in Jakarta, Monday 21 April.

"With this SARI, the digital application that we have is more complete for none other than and not, the state is here to provide excellent service and protection for Indonesian citizens abroad, especially the majority of migrant workers," he added.

Meanwhile, Head of the UN Women Indonesia Program, Dwi Yuliawati, said that SARI was made unlike other AIs, only machines, but also considering the self-consisting challenges faced by women Indonesian migrant workers.

"The language is simple, there is also a local language that can be accessed. We listen to the voices of female migrant workers when compiling SARI, the contents are more real, according to conditions on the ground. They have more empathy than just machines, understanding human feelings," he explained.

"SARI has empathy when female migrant workers face violence, showing the most detailed information that can be accessed wherever they are," he continued.

He added that there was a consultation process for about six months with migrant workers in several countries to find out their obstacles.

Regarding the existence of regional language features, this is a consideration in order to adjust to the needs of Indonesian migrant workers abroad.

"There are many regional languages from (regional) pockets of Indonesian migrant workers," Andy explained.

"Many of our migrant workers come from certain areas, that's why we add features for regional language services," he added.

"The standard and formal Indonesian language is not very affected by a lot of female migrant workers. That's why there are regional language features," said Dwi.

Regarding the socialization of SARI, apart from being carried out domestically, it will also be carried out abroad by representatives of the Republic of Indonesia.

"This launch will be served by Indonesian representatives abroad. So, later representatives of the Republic of Indonesia will also nominate SARI to the Indonesian community abroad," explained the Director of Protection for Indonesian Foreign Ministry Judha Nugraha.

Before being launched today, Judha last February said, SARI ang will be embedded in the Safe Travel application and has undergone testing after it was developed. Judha said SARI was presented to provide humanist services.

"If ordinary chatbots cannot detect language, (SARI) even use Javanese can respond, they can provide empathy. We have trained to be able to provide empathy and also respond to needs when getting problems," explained Judha.

It is known, Portal Peduli WNI is a web base. Meanwhile, Safe Travel is a mobile application that can be downloaded on the App Store and PlayStore.

Caring for Indonesian citizens is intended for Indonesian citizens who live abroad. Meanwhile, Safe Travel, continued Judha, is dedicated to Indonesian citizens who travel briefly abroad, although Indonesian citizens who live abroad can also be used.

Judha said that the existence of Peduli WNI, Safe Travel and SARI was "a form of commitment from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to carry out digital transformation to make it easier for people to get the service and protection of Indonesian citizens".