Malaysia’s first AI preacher stirs debate on Islamic principles

Former Islamic affairs minister and mufti unveils avatars built using ChatGPT and trained with thousands of published articles by him

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.

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.

“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.

On social media, several Malaysian users pointed out that generative AI was known to “hallucinate” – produce convincing but false or misleading information from the information crunched – and questioned whether Zulkifli was prepared for the potential risk of spreading inaccurate religious advice.

“How are we supposed to handle the issue of these characters giving out misleading information – or hacked – and people believe in its content?” asked X user Liza Yusof.

Others said that with the endorsement of a respectable figure such as Zulkifli, a former minister and mufti, more would follow.

“Soon, anyone can generate religious scholar looking faces and give dubious advice that are supposedly based on the religion,” an X user said.

Zulkifli’s female AI avatar – speaking in a distinct Indonesian accent – has already surfaced on TikTok, delivering a sermon on the issue of whether husbands are religiously obliged to fulfil their pregnant wives’ unusual cravings.

Reception on the platform has been largely positive, with users praising Zulkifli’s embrace of new technology to spread religious messages.

“Congratulations Dr Zul, always on the forefront in advancing Islamic preaching,” wrote one user. Others, however, were distracted by her appearance, commenting that the avatar was not dressed modestly enough, or jokingly proposing marriage.