MPR Vice Chair: AI Literacy for Persons with Disabilities Fulfills Constitutional Mandate
Jakarta - MPR Vice Chair Lestari Moerdijat stated that digital literacy and artificial intelligence (AI) literacy for persons with disabilities is not merely an additional program or routine social activity, but part of fulfilling constitutional mandates.
“The preamble of the 1945 Constitution clearly mandates the intellectual development of the nation for all citizens, including persons with disabilities,” Lestari said in a statement on Monday.
This was delivered during her speech at the EQUAL (Empower Equality AI Initiative) AI training programme organised by Alunjiva Indonesia and Microsoft at the National Disability Committee office in Cawang Kencana, East Jakarta.
Lestari noted that in the past, discrimination was evident in buildings without ramps. Today, discrimination can manifest in applications that are inaccessible to everyone.
Rerie, Lestari’s nickname, said that non-inclusive AI is not merely incomplete but could threaten citizens’ fundamental rights.
The member of DPR Commission X stated that digital transformation must align with social transformation to avoid creating new inequalities.
In this context, understanding and practicing Pancasila values is crucial to remind that technology must also uphold human dignity.
Rerie argued that disability issues have long been framed as charity. “This paradigm must be abandoned. Persons with disabilities are not objects of charity but rights-holders,” she said.
In the context of AI, she added, persons with disabilities should not only be training participants but also capable of designing technology and testing accessibility.
According to Rerie, AI must be designed with accessibility from the outset. Accessibility must be a fundamental principle of technology design.
“Do not let anyone define the future without your presence. Do not let technology be built without your voice. Because Indonesia’s future must be built together with all citizens,” she concluded.