Social Media, Primary Source for Indonesians to Learn Artificial Intelligence

The report titled Indonesia AI Report 2025, released by Kumparan and Populix, indicates that social media and YouTube are the primary sources for 84% of respondents in Indonesia to learn about artificial intelligence (AI).

"The majority of the public gains knowledge about AI through fast and practical channels, especially popular content on social media and YouTube," Kumparan and Populix wrote in their report.

Others learned about AI through online articles and blogs (51%), mass media and news (49%), friends and colleagues (43%), and self-conducted trial and error (42%).

Meanwhile, only 21% of respondents in Indonesia learned about AI through online or offline courses.

"The low involvement of formal institutions such as online/offline courses is also suspected to be due to the extremely rapid pace of industry development," the report stated.

This report suggests that new AI models can emerge almost daily, making it difficult for formal learning, which relies on centralized modules and syllabi, to keep up with developments.

Consequently, in addition to a limited fundamental understanding of AI's core mechanisms, the public is also deemed to have difficulty determining suitable models for specific problems.

Kumparan and Populix conducted an online survey of 1,000 respondents, with a distribution of 50% in Jabodetabek and 50% in other urban cities such as Surabaya, Medan, Makassar, Denpasar, and Balikpapan.

Respondents had a minimum educational background from high school to master's degree, with a gender proportion of 50% male and 50% female. By age group, respondents consisted of 50% Gen Z (18-28 years old) and 50% millennials (29-44 years old).