AI needs to apply the scientific values of the Islamic tradition, not guided by the western model, says PM
SHAH ALAM:The field of artificial intelligence (AI) in Malaysia needs to be applied to the scientific values of Islamic heritage (heritage science) and not completely guided by western models, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
According to Bernama, he said that the skills and development of AI progress in the country need to be filled with the treasures of knowledge and the legacy of Islam to be used as a corpus (collection of research materials) so that the development of technology goes hand in hand with manners and morals.
According to him, the knowledge contained in AI technology is currently based on materials from the west because the technology was developed by them.
“My concern in Malaysia in developing AI and digital is because the values fostered (in AI) are western values and thinking. Although the AI is considered neutral because the entire corpus of knowledge can be included and when there is a question, the answer seems to be complete.
“Therefore, the value of this tradition must be included so that the AI that is ‘vomited’ and expressed from the Islamic country is not separated from the Islamic moral system and values.”
Anwar said this when speaking to officiate the Riyadhu As-Salihin Appreciation Seminar in conjunction with the Selangor Turath Islami Festival at the Islamic Lecture and Muzakarah Hall in Shah Alam.
Also present were Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Na’im Mokhtar.
Anwar also thanked the Selangor government for organizing an Islamic heritage festival that he can be proud of to keep alive the masterpieces of Islam, thus nourishing the culture of love of knowledge in the country.
“What is being done in Selangor is interesting and it maintains a tradition of (demanding) knowledge in the old way such as pondok and sheikhs (teachers) come to read the book and read the contents.
“In today’s social media world, knowledge is available in one to three minutes. Whereas in Islam, the tradition of seeking knowledge must be reading, studying and appreciating,” he said.
At the event, Anwar also launched the translation of Kitab Ihya’ Ulumuddin (5 Volumes) and Kitab Hadis 40 into Malay which is recommended to be taught in suraus and mosques as part of efforts to educate and give understanding to the younger generation about the treasures of the Qur’an.
The second Selangor Islami Turath Festival from May 26 to tomorrow aims to revive turath in the daily life of Muslims in the archipelago.
The festival featured the world’s leading scholars, namely the former Grand Mufti of Egypt Prof Dr Ali Jum’ah who held up the book Riyadhu as-Salihin and the Forty Hadith by Al-Imam Yahya Sharaf al-Nawawi to be studied and appreciated.