BINUS University's Board of Professors Promotes 'AI for Life' Concept for Indonesia's Future

Commemorating its 45th anniversary at the Alam Sutra campus in Tangerang, the Board of Professors of BINUS University stressed the vital role of higher education in delivering ideas, solutions, and tangible contributions to the wider community. This milestone serves not only as a celebration of BINUS’s long journey but also as a moment of reflection to strengthen its commitment to providing a positive impact for Indonesia. Over 45 years, BINUS University has continued to grow as a higher education institution that fosters and empowers society through education, research, innovation, collaboration, and community service. In line with its vision of becoming ‘A World-Class University, Fostering and Empowering the Society in Building and Serving the Nation,’ BINUS views the university’s role as extending beyond the provision of education to include the responsibility of responding to various national challenges. Coinciding with this Lustrum IX, the Board of Professors of BINUS University introduced the ‘AI for Life’ concept, where artificial intelligence can be utilised in a more meaningful, ethical, and responsible manner to support human life, strengthen the quality of human resources, drive productivity, and broaden the positive impact for society and the nation. This idea emerges amidst the accelerating development of AI, which is influencing various aspects of life. The Board of Professors assessed that discussions on AI should not stop at mere tool or application usage. AI needs to be understood comprehensively as part of the transformation of life, education, industry, creativity, governance, law, and national strategy. Through an official statement, the Chair of the Board of Professors, Prof. Dr. Ir. Harjanto Prabowo, stated that BINUS’s 45th anniversary is a crucial momentum for professors to not only be present in academic spaces but also to contribute their thinking to the wider community. ‘At 45 years of BINUS, we are grateful for the journey that has been taken and appreciate all the contributions that have shaped BINUS to this day. However, gratitude must be realised through a commitment to continue working and contributing to Indonesia,’ said Prof Harjanto. Through the ‘AI for Life’ concept, Harjanto continued, the Board of Professors wants to emphasise that technology, particularly AI, must be directed to strengthen human life, not replace it. Harjanto explained that the ‘AI for Life’ concept was formulated through a cross-disciplinary approach. This approach asserts that AI is not just a technological issue but also relates to education, industry, creativity, governance, law, geopolitics, and national policy. He reminded that despite the country being rocked by various issues such as alleged corruption, the education sector must continue to advance in producing superior and high-integrity human resources. The forum presented cross-disciplinary thinking from BINUS University Professors, highlighting various strategic aspects of AI utilisation for Indonesia’s future. Sub-team A discussed Technology, Engineering, and Information Technology with all its impacts, focusing on the importance of digital transformation that goes beyond mere technology use. AI must be utilised to increase productivity, strengthen decision-making quality, build new capabilities, and create impactful innovations for industry and society. The sub-team viewed that Indonesia’s challenge is not simply adoption but transforming AI into real economic and social value. Organisations, industries, and educational institutions need to move from AI adoption to AI transformation, requiring readiness in human resources, digital literacy, data governance, privacy protection, ethics, and adaptive leadership. Sub-team B reviewed Business and the Creative Industry with all its opportunities and challenges, emphasising that AI should be understood not as a threat to creativity and business but as an opportunity to strengthen innovation, efficiency, competitiveness, and the creation of new value in Indonesia’s business and creative industry ecosystem. In the creative industry, AI can be a partner that helps accelerate idea exploration, expand production access, and open new economic opportunities. However, creativity still requires feeling, cultural context, life experience, social sensitivity, and human meaning. Sub-team C discussed Global Geopolitics, Law, and National Policy Strategy, highlighting the importance of Indonesia’s readiness to face global challenges related to AI, including data sovereignty, cyber security, asymmetric warfare, regulation, legal certainty, and adaptive national policy direction that favours the nation’s interests. Through these three focus areas, the Board of Professors of BINUS University wants to assert that AI must be understood holistically. AI is not just about technological sophistication but about how technology can be directed to strengthen the quality of human life, expand access, create opportunities, protect society, and support national development. Through the ‘AI for Life’ concept, BINUS University aims to promote human-centred AI utilisation, making AI part of the solution.