Fadli Zon Wants Humanities Not to Be Left Behind by AI, Campus is Encouraged to Become Strategic Partners

DEPOK - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon encourages universities to become strategic partners of the government in developing the humanities, especially when artificial intelligence or AI changes the way people learn, work, and make decisions.

This was conveyed by Fadli at the 2026 National Symposium of Humanities Professors at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Indonesia, Depok, Tuesday, August 11.

The symposium, which will last until August 13, brings together 55 professors from 33 universities. They come from the fields of history, philosophy, linguistics, literature, archaeology, cultural anthropology, library science, regional studies, and other humanities disciplines.

"The humanities that are developing face very exponential changes. In my opinion, this forum is very strategic in accommodating ideas and thoughts, especially humanities," said Fadli.

According to Fadli, the humanities of the future must have at least five characters. Humanities must be critical, adaptive, cross-disciplinary, rooted in culture, and remain human-oriented.

The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Untung Yuwono, said that changes in technology require humanities to transform.

"Future humanities must be able to develop ethics and artificial intelligence, support the preservation of cultural heritage through technology, and produce public policy recommendations based on humanitarian values," said Untung.

He also proposed four directions for development, namely ethical digital humanities, humanities as a foundation for public policy, humanities for sustainability, and global humanities based on Indonesianness.

The forum discussed a number of issues, ranging from digital humanities, ecology, cultural mitigation and conservation, multicultural literacy, public policy, politics, to social cohesion and interethnic relations.

One of the results targeted is two policy briefs or policy recommendation documents that will be submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology and the Ministry of Culture.

The document will contain recommendations on strengthening humanities in higher education, national research and innovation, and cultural governance in the AI era.

Fadli said the Ministry of Culture was ready to be part of the university ecosystem that developed humanities.

"Through this symposium forum, it is hoped that it will formulate a new direction for the development of relevant, adaptive, and impactful humanities, especially for cultural development," said Fadli.