MALAYSIA Prime Minister Anwar backs AI based on Islamic values

Malaysia’s prime minister spoke at the Turath Islami Festival held in the State of Selangor, which celebrated Islam’s intellectual heritage. According to Anwar, the development of Artificial Intelligence has been based so far on Western ideas and concepts, but in Malaysia, it must “not stray from the Islamic moral system and values.”

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – Islamic traditions and principles will have to be applied in the use of artificial intelligence in Malaysia. So far, the development of the technology has been based on Western ideas and concepts, this according to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“The field of artificial intelligence (AI) in Malaysia needs to be applied with the values of Turath Islam and not be completely based on the Western model,” Anwar said during the inauguration of an academic seminar (Riyadhu As-Salihin), held in conjunction with the Turath Islami Festival, in Shah Alam. Turath Islam refers to the intellectual legacy of Islam’s golden age.

“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 (a collection of research materials) so that the development of the technology goes hand in hand with Islamic adab (manners) and akhlak (morality),” he added.

“I am very concerned that for Malaysia, in developing AI, the values embedded in the technology carry Western values and thinking. On account of this, I feel the Islamic intellectual tradition must be included so that the AI applied in Islamic countries does not stray from the Islamic moral system and values,” Anwar explained.

The prime minister praised the State of Selangor for organising the Turath Islami Festival (the festival of Islamic heritage, 26 May-2 June) to revive the masterpieces of Islam while nurturing a “culture of love of knowledge” in the country.

“What is being done in Selangor is interesting,” he said. “The state strives to maintain a tradition of obtaining knowledge in the old ways, such as through pondok (Islamic boarding schools) and sheikhs (personal mentors and teachers).”

Some of the leading figures in the Islamic world, like the former Grand Mufti of Egypt Prof Ali Jum’ah, were present at the festival. So was Selangor First Minister Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

“The Selangor State Government is committed to mainstreaming turath through the establishment of the Turath Academy, under the management of the State Mosque, the Masjid Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah,” Amirudin said.

The state government has drafted a series of lectures with religious educators in mosques, a practice called talaqqi. The project will start in nine districts of the state.

“We are aware that, in modernity and the limitations of time, especially when faced with political, economic, social crises, and the crisis of globalisation, many of us are nearly overwhelmed while searching for something to cling to, so some of us fall into extremism, fanaticism, racism, and bigotry,” Amirudin explained.

“The time has come for us to embrace turath as a pillar for the people,” he added.