Nezar Patria: AI Regulation Cannot Be Made Reactive

Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Nezar Patria (center). (Ministry of Communication and Digital)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital (Wamenkomdigi) Nezar Patria said that regulations regarding artificial intelligence (AI) technology, especially related to governance, cannot be made reactively given the rapid development.

"Because technology is evolving so fast, we should not be lazy and we should not also regulate the technology in a reactionary way. Technology is still looking for forms when it is adopted in the health sector, education, transportation, to financial services," said Deputy Minister of Nezar in a press statement received in Jakarta and confirmed, Saturday.

Discussing the development of AI, Nezar said that AI may have been known from the presence of chatbots. Then it evolved into agentic AI and physical AI which were combined with robotic technology.

"With its rapid development, the regulations related to regulating it must have a clear policy direction.

Therefore, the government applies a horizontal approach in the preparation of regulations by emphasizing the principles and norms first before being applied in each sector.

This step was taken so that regulations remain relevant to the very rapid development of technology.

"The use of digital technology can have a good impact, but it can also be bad. There are digital crimes, online fraud, cyber bullying, to hoaxes and disinformation that we must face together," he said.

Currently, the Indonesian Government is more focused on creating a national roadmap for the development of AI.

In addition to the roadmap, the Government also presents ethical regulation for the development of AI so that its use remains ethical.

As a regulation related to the development of AI, Nezar said that Indonesia currently has Law Number 27 of 2022 concerning the Protection of Personal Data (PDP) as the basis for strengthening digital data governance.

The PDP Law is important because AI can develop based on the data owned by its users.

"AI machines live with data. Therefore, there must be protection for personal data," said Nezar Patria.