The Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Knowledge and Theology: An Epistemological and Theological Critique
Abstract
The increasing use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academic and religious contexts has raised questions about how AI-generated outputs affect epistemic agency, knowledge evaluation, and the attribution of religious authority. However, existing scholarship remains fragmented across research on AI and cognition, digital religion and religious authority, and the emerging use of AI in Islamic knowledge contexts. This study addresses this gap through a critical integrative literature review with a qualitative interpretive design. The analysis examined approximately 15 contemporary peer-reviewed studies published primarily between 2021 and 2026, supplemented by selected foundational philosophical and Islamic theological sources. The literature was identified through Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect and analyzed thematically across four epistemological dimensions epistemic agency, cognitive offloading, epistemic justification, and attribution of authority and four Islamic-theological dimensions religious authority, scholarly transmission and accountability, lived religious knowledge, and the relationship between rational reflection and spiritual awareness. The findings indicate that generative AI can support information retrieval, organization, translation, and cognitive assistance, while over-reliance may reduce opportunities for independent verification and critical engagement. In Islamic contexts, the central issue concerns the attribution of authority to AI-generated information without adequate scholarly verification and contextual judgment. The study contributes a conceptual distinction between AI's technological capabilities and the epistemic or religious authority attributed to its outputs. The concept of Ulul Albab further provides a theological framework for understanding knowledge as involving both intellectual reflection (fikr) and spiritual awareness (dhikr).
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