UNAIR NEWS – The development of artificial intelligence (AI) brings new challenges to the world of innovation. Public policy analyst Rocky Gerung believes that technological progress still requires human involvement in generating original ideas through critical thinking. He shared this view during the Whats Up Campus Call Out (WCC) event titled “From Innovation to Sovereignty” at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), Surabaya, Thursday (September 17, 2026).
At the forum, organized by the Ministry of Law of the Republic of Indonesia, Gerung discussed the relationship between innovation, intellectual property, and the role of universities in creating an ecosystem that fosters the emergence of new ideas.
According to Gerung, innovation is measured not only by its end result but also by the intellectual process that produced the idea. He emphasized that originality is essential for an idea to hold value and continue to develop.
AI and the challenge of original innovation
In his presentation, Gerung explained that AI can help people develop ideas, but it cannot replace human thinking. Technology, he said, still needs people capable of providing direction through reasoning and critical thought.
He noted that universities play an important role in preserving that capacity. Campuses are not only places for transferring knowledge, but also spaces for testing, questioning, and developing ideas.
Gerung also highlighted that ideas grow best in environments that encourage the exchange of thought. Through discussion and reasoning, an idea can be tested until it leads to innovation with broader benefits.
Campus as an incubator of ideas
Gerung encouraged universities to become incubators of ideas, bringing together creativity, knowledge, and the courage to think differently. Innovation, he said, requires perseverance and the ability to move beyond established ways of thinking.
Through WCC, Gerung invited students not only to be users of technology, but also to become creators of ideas. The ability to think critically and generate original ideas, he said, is essential for keeping pace with technological change and strengthening Indonesia’s innovation sovereignty.
Author: Nabila Afifah Abida
Editor: Ragil Kukuh Imanto
