Indonesia promotes AI for budget management but warns of three risks

Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance is promoting artificial intelligence to support state budget management, with Deputy Finance Minister Nurkholisoh Ibnu Aman cautioning employees about manipulated content, overdependence and confidential data leaks.

Speaking at an AI seminar in Jakarta held for the 80th Hari Oeang anniversary, Nurkholisoh said the technology offered ways to raise employee productivity across revenue collection, government spending and state financing.

For taxation, he said AI could uncover potential new revenue sources and flag indications of taxpayer non-compliance. It could also help assess how communities benefit from social assistance, local government spending and programmes administered by ministries and agencies. Financing applications could include identifying and predicting risks.

Nurkholisoh warned that deepfakes can alter images, video and sound to resemble authentic material, making convincing false information easier to believe. He also cautioned that excessive dependence on AI could erode people’s ability to think critically, remember and understand information independently.

A further concern was the risk of exposing confidential data by entering it into AI tools without suitable protection or organisational authorisation. The ministry manages sensitive information, including tax data and government finances.

He said these risks did not justify rejecting AI. Its use should instead involve careful application selection, confidentiality safeguards and checks on generated results, while people retain responsibility for assessing information and making decisions.