Artificial Intelligence and Tough Questions!

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I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who knows very well my passion and interest in everything related to artificial intelligence and its expected effects on our lives. He surprised me with a question: Is it possible to accept an interpretation of the Holy Quran and a review of the noble hadiths, peace be upon him, and critique historical narratives using artificial intelligence? After some research and thought, I realized the following...

Yes, it is possible, but there is a significant difference between 'using artificial intelligence as a tool' and 'entrusting it with the interpretation.'

Today, artificial intelligence can work as a research assistant, not as a mufti, nor as a sheikh.

So, what can it do?

It can gather for you the interpretation of a single verse from Al-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Al-Saadi, and Al-Razi in a minute, compare them, and it can search for the meanings of words in Lisan al-Arab, and link the verse to similar verses in its subject. It can also translate and interpret language, but it does not possess the sense of intentions and does not know when a verse is definitive, when it is speculative, and when it is general or specific. The problem is that many artificial intelligence tools mix between the interpretations of the Mu'tazila, Ash'ari, and Salafi schools without informing you of the doctrine, resulting in a confused and unhelpful fatwa.

As for reviewing hadith, it can quickly trace the chain of narration and know whether this hadith is in Al-Bukhari, whether it was narrated by Muslim, and what the status of its narrators is.

It can compare one narration with another for the same hadith and reveal differences in wording. However, it cannot judge the narrator as scholars of criticism and validation do, because the judgment of 'trustworthy, truthful, or weak' is based on the man's biography, his news, and all his narrations, which requires the intuition of a scholar, not a machine's counting. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of artificial intelligence in hadith is that if it does not find a hadith in its database, it says 'not found' when it actually exists, or it invents a complete chain that seems correct but is fabricated. This phenomenon is called hallucination, and it is very dangerous in religion.

As for the criticism of historical narratives, here the role of artificial intelligence is stronger because it can compare the narratives of Al-Tabari, Ibn Al-Athir, and Ibn Khaldun for a single event and show you the contradictions in dates and numbers. It can also search for contemporary events, such as whether there were earthquakes or wars in that year that confirm the narrative. Additionally, it can linguistically examine the text and clarify whether the terms used existed in that era or not.

Finally, there are the legal rules that do not change. Today's scholars have ruled that using artificial intelligence in interpretation and hadith is permissible as a research tool, but: no direct legal ruling should be taken from it, nor should it correct or weaken a hadith by itself, nor should a belief be built on its conclusions.

Everything said must be presented to a specialized scholar, because artificial intelligence does not possess scientific "licensure" or qualifications, and it does not bear responsibility before God Almighty. This opinion pertains to the current version of artificial intelligence, but the question remains open: Are we ready for future versions that are more efficient, accurate, and reliable?