Prabowo Highlights AI's Negative Impact Before Academics at Science Convention

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia's President, Prabowo Subianto, highlighted the negative impacts of technology at closing the 2026 National Workshop of the Indonesia Science, Technology, and Industry Convention (KSTI) in Jakarta on Sunday, June 28, 2026.It was attended by about 2,600 Indonesian academicians.

Concerns about the latest development of artificial intelligence (AI) became one of his focuses, including AI agents and chatbots. Prabowo said technology makes it possible for proposals from people in rural villages to be acted upon quickly.

However, he also noted that fields such as nuclear technology and AI have negative aspects that academicians must be mindful of. "Now there is something called AI agents. As I understand it, these AI agents are systems that work and perform tasks for an individual, a group, a corporation, an organization, or even a country," Prabowo said.

"And reportedly, there are now already 5 million AI agents. Five million. Maybe that figure was from three weeks ago," he said.

He also highlighted AI "chat rooms", in which he said those five million speak to themselves in their own coded language. He urged the academics to pay attention to these developments.

"Machines (such as AI) can now create extraordinary works. So, ladies and gentlemen, these will be the professors, the professors who must delve into this," he said.

President Prabowo also said he intends to continue consulting with scientists and academics. He stressed that life on Earth is becoming increasingly interconnected, with events in one part of the world affecting everyone else.

"We are not in conflict with anyone, and we are not hostile toward anyone. But if there is a nuclear war in one part of the world, we will also feel its effects," he said.

"That is why, in my view, even meeting with university rectors four times is not enough. If necessary, we should meet every month," he continued, followed by applause.

On that occasion, Prabowo said he would follow up on several proposals submitted by lecturers and professors attending the convention. These include a proposal to provide doctoral scholarships for university lecturers and to allocate a portion of the profits of state-owned enterprises to research funding.