Reading the Indonesian Intellectual Perspective in Responding to Artificial Intelligence Advances

As Artificial Intelligence, digital identity systems, biometrics, big data, and algorithm-based public services increasingly determine who receives social assistance, healthcare, and social protection, a fundamental question arises: Who is designing the future of this technology, and from whose perspective?

This question is addressed through the launch of the book ‘Digital Social Emancipated Social Work Across Africa and Asia: A Decolonial Framework for the Future of the Global South’, authored by Siddhartha Paul Tiwari, Prof. Adi Fahrudin, and Dr Fentiny Nugroho, published by UI Publishing (Universitas Indonesia Publishing).

More than just an academic book, this publication marks the presence of Indonesian intellectual contribution in the global conversation regarding the relationship between digital technology, social justice, and the future of societal welfare in Global South nations.

The book is the first work to specifically construct a theory regarding Digital Social Work by treating Africa and Asia as a single intellectual landscape, rather than merely as objects for the application of theories that have long been dominated by European and North American perspectives.

The book is the result of cross-country policy analysis, decolonial studies, and field research involving 234 frontline social workers across various African and Asian countries.

For decades, literature regarding digital transformation in social work has been largely composed based on the experiences of developed nations that possess mature digital infrastructure, individual device ownership, and relatively established welfare systems.

However, the reality in Asia and Africa is very different. In these regions, digital technology develops amidst the challenges of poverty, infrastructure gaps, shared device ownership within families, linguistic diversity, and colonial histories that continue to influence social service systems.