Malaysia's first AI preacher stirs debate on Islamic principles
The launch of artificial intelligence-powered Islamic preachers has raised questions in
Malaysia over the technology's potential to distort local Islamic teachings and undermine the role of qualified scholars.
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In Malaysia, where Islam is the state religion, religious discourse is tightly regulated and preachers must obtain official credentials and strictly adhere to state-sanctioned interpretations of the faith – or risk infringing sharia court rulings of 'deviant teachings'.
But AI avatars are on the rise, including 'AI-Dr Munir' and 'AI-Dr Munirah', which are trained on more than 9,000 published articles by former Islamic affairs minister and Kuala Lumpur mufti Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri and built using ChatGPT.
The so-called Smart Sharia Officers are seen by critics as contradicting Islamic principles that emphasise learning the faith through human interaction and community.
Zulkifli said on Thursday the avatars served to summarise his thoughts and answers on Islamic questions ranging from rulings, fatwa and societal issues regarding the practice of Islam.
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'Do not worry as they have been programmed to be social media-friendly,' Zulkifli said in his announcement on X. 'Their answers are also based on my stance in relation to religious matters.'
Public reaction, however, has been mixed.
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