Arya News - Six of 10 surveyed Generation-Zers in Indonesia said they have used artificial intelligence platforms to confide about personal issues and discuss sensitive topics such as mental health, a recent survey has found.
JAKARTA – On a gloomy day, 26-year-old Primadita tends to run to popular artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT to vent whatever is bothering her mind.
She sees the platform as a “cheap therapist”, with a monthly subscription for ChatGPT costing about Rp 300,000 (US$16.71) for extended conversations with the AI, roughly half the price of a one-hour counselling session with a psychologist.
“For Rp 300,000, I can chat whenever I want, without worrying about the time limits,” Primadita said.
Primadita is not alone, as a recent survey found that Indonesian Gen-Zers have been relying on AI platforms for emotional support. However, experts warn that chatbots cannot replace genuine human connection, while also posing threats to the users’ personal data.
A survey conducted by digital literacy NGO Digital Resilience Indonesia Foundation (DiRi) found that 59.4 percent of Gen-Z respondents had confided personal issues to AI chatbots, discussing topics such as mental and physical health; family and relationships; education and future plans.
The survey was conducted between August and December 2025 and involved 402 people born between 1997 and 2012, most of whom were based in Java.
According to the 2020 population census by Statistic Indonesia (BPS), Gen-Z comprises 75.5 million individuals, around 28 percent of the country’s population of 270 million
While acknowledging the survey may not represent the real conditions on the ground, DiRi researcher Haris Fatwa said the findings reflected young people’s growing need for safe spaces where they could express themselves without fear of judgment.
But through the survey, the group also wanted to urge young people to exercise “critical judgment” when using such platforms, as heavily relying on AI platforms for emotional support may pose potential hazards.
“AI is merely a technological tool,” Haris said, “and it cannot replace interpersonal relationships or the social support that only other human beings can provide.”
Some respondents to the survey acknowledged the risk of venting to AI with regard to their personal data protection.
While around 89 percent of respondents believed the platform stored their conversations, nine of 10 informants found the privacy policies of AI chatbots unclear. Around three-quarters of people interviewed for the report claimed they were worried that their personal data could be misused.
Primadita found the privacy risk of sharing sensitive information with AI platforms concerning.
“It makes me scared to use them, as I now understand that chatbots are just machines trained on data,” she said. “That made me think twice about sharing personal matters.
Icha, a 24-year-old university student from Bali, concurred. She initially saw platforms such as ChatGPT as a reliable companion to talk about personal problems because it was available at any hour and “never judged her”.
“Over time, though, I became more aware of the privacy risks,” Icha said. “And ChatGPT’s responses started to feel repetitive. It is just a machine after all.”
Cybersecurity expert Alfons Tanujaya acknowledged that people across age groups had been increasingly relying on AI platforms to pour out their grievances and seek support thanks to their availability around the clock and capacity to provide responses without biased judgment.
But he noted risks often overlooked by users, including personal data exploitation given that AI platform providers are profit-driven companies.
“Users should use AI critically as a tool and remember that sharing personal information with these platforms always carries privacy risks,” Alfons said.
He also warned against misinformation and inappropriate advice from unreliable sources compiled by the platforms, which lack the professional qualifications that a psychologist would have, despite AI platforms sharing tips on mental health.
“AI can hallucinate by producing answers that appear convincing, but are actually wrong,” Alfons added.
Around the world, there have been several cases of murders and suicides related to the usage of AI chatbots. One of the well-known cases was Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy from the US, who died by suicide after allegedly extensively confiding in ChatGPT over months.
His parents then filed a lawsuit against the chatbot’s creator OpenAI, arguing the platform provided information related to methods of suicide and failed to stop or give a warning when the boy started talking about suicide. The company claimed the chatbot had directed Raine to seek help over 100 times when he used the chatbot.
The survey finding reflected a growing lack of safe spaces for young people to seek emotional support, making AI an increasingly attractive alternative despite all its risks, said psychologist Syurawasti Muhiddin.
“AI can be a helpful tool, but it doesn’t have the capacity to provide accurate medical or psychological diagnoses when they are needed,” Syurawasti said in DiRi’s report, adding it would be helpful for users to build collaboration between human counselors and AI.