Indonesia’s deputy communications and digital affairs minister has urged stronger safeguards for artificial intelligence in financial services and healthcare, warning that systems authorised to make decisions could have serious consequences if they malfunction. The government is developing a national AI roadmap and ethics guidance, but no new binding AI-specific rule has been announced.
The warning, made in Jakarta, focused on uses of AI where decisions involve banking transactions, medical diagnosis or sensitive patient data. The deputy minister’s position places risk mitigation at the centre of the policy discussion, particularly when an AI system has authority to decide rather than simply provide information.
That distinction is central to the concern. The warning was about what could happen if decision-making systems malfunction, not a finding that a particular banking or healthcare system had failed. It did not establish that financial losses, diagnostic errors or breaches of patient information had occurred.
Decisions and sensitive data
Banking transactions and medical diagnosis were cited as examples of activities in which the consequences of malfunction could be serious. They sit within different sectors, but the deputy minister raised both in the context of stronger AI safeguards. The stated concern was the potential risk attached to systems empowered to make consequential decisions.
Sensitive patient data formed another part of the warning. This brings information handling into the discussion alongside the decisions an AI system may make. The government’s stated position therefore covers both the possible consequences of malfunction and the governance of data involved in AI use, rather than treating safety solely as a question of system performance.
The examples identify areas of concern, not a set of newly adopted sector-specific requirements. They also do not amount to a conclusion that all AI applications in finance or healthcare present the same risks. The warning is framed around the authority given to systems and the serious consequences that could follow if they malfunction.
Framework remains in development
The ministry says Indonesia currently relies on existing laws covering electronic information and personal data protection while it prepares the National AI Roadmap and AI Ethics guidance. Those existing laws are the present legal backdrop described by officials; the planned AI measures remain work in progress.
The roadmap and ethics guidance are expected to take the form of a presidential regulation. That expected form should not be confused with an issued regulation. The government’s stated intention describes the direction of policy development, not confirmation that a new presidential AI measure has already been adopted or brought into force.
The distinction matters when interpreting the call for stronger safeguards. A public warning from a deputy minister sets out a policy priority, but it is not itself an announcement of new binding obligations. The current position combines reliance on existing legislation with preparation of a more specifically focused AI framework.
Nor does the planned framework establish that the risks highlighted by the deputy minister have been resolved. The warning and the policy work concern safeguards under development. They should not be read as evidence that particular financial or healthcare AI systems have been assessed as safe.
For now, Indonesia’s stated priority is stronger risk mitigation where AI decisions could carry serious consequences, with banking, diagnosis and sensitive patient information among the areas highlighted. The next framework remains prospective: officials are preparing a roadmap and ethics measures, while the distinction between planned guidance and adopted regulation remains essential to understanding the government’s position.
