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View all search resultsVenting to the machine
With the fear of being judged, especially by your closest families and friends, AI chatbots emerge to fill those gaps felt by most Indonesians who are struggling to march on with their lives.
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This photograph shows a handheld smartphone displaying the icons of some of the main artificial intelligence based apps, including LLMs, chatbots and generative AI, in Saint-Mande, east of Paris on July 15, 2026. (AFP/Martin Lelievre)
When your day is going badly and you need someone to talk to, who you gonna call?
For many in Indonesia’s Generation-Z, those who were born between 1997 and 2012, they apparently run to artificial intelligence platforms to vent and talk about sensitive issues, including relationships and mental health. A recent survey of 400 Indonesian Gen-Zers found that 60 percent of them had confided personal issues to AI chatbots.
Surveyors saw the phenomenon as driven by the need for youngsters for safe spaces around the clock where they can express their concerns without the fear of being judged. Some Gen-Zers also said paying for AI chatbot subscriptions was relatively cheaper than going for a psychological counselling session.
Beyond the survey, AI platforms have emerged as a reliable friend for many people in all age groups, not just youngsters. Spend some time scrolling through your social media’s timeline or feed, and you can see an adult marrying an AI after the collapse of their real-life relationship.
While these stories might sound silly, it has highlighted the longstanding issue with the country’s gap in mental health support. Indonesia only has around 2,300 clinical psychologists across the country, with each serving 100,000 people.
This figure is far below the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO) of one psychologist per 30,000 of the population. These services are also often limited to big cities, with little to none being based in rural areas.
With the fear of being judged, especially by your closest families and friends, AI chatbots emerge to fill those gaps felt by most Indonesians who are struggling to march on with their lives.
