Fear No Machine
How should Muslims View Technology Like AI?
﷽
Most people relate to new technology one of two ways:
total surrender,
or total suspicion.
But there’s a third option. One which doesn’t involve fear, worship, or the complete domestication of our souls.
No different than any other tool, AI and these new technologies should go through a simple but insightful test:
what does it actually do?
what does it not do?
is there a real cost hiding under the convenience?
If we ask these questions then we can stop operating on fear or admiration. As Muslims fear and adoration should be directed towards God. If we’re not careful, our fears can not only control us but they can become idols themselves.
So what we need is the discipline to analyze these technologies and assess the benefits (if any) and way them against detriments (if any).
We should not reject them simply because they way they are presented to us is by way of mega corporations who seek to extract our weatlh and data by means of them. Seldom do we see in the news the promising AI models which are not cloud based, run on local architecture, and do not require one to participate in corporate, cloud AI. Just because Sam Altman says that’s how AI should be done doesn’t mean that it’s the gospel.
What we need is caution married with clarity.