Komunikasi Dakwah Berbasis Artificial Intelligence: Negosiasi Otoritas Keagamaan antara Dai dan Chatbot AI di Kalangan Muslim Indonesia

Abstract

 

Abstract: The rapid advancement of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed the landscape of Islamic communication and the ways in which Muslims access religious knowledge. AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot, enable users to obtain instant, interactive, and personalized guidance on issues related to worship, theology, Islamic jurisprudence, and contemporary socio-religious matters. This development has generated a new dialectic of religious authority, as AI chatbots increasingly function as users' initial point of reference before consulting religious scholars (da'i). This study investigates the transformation of AI-mediated da'wah communication and examines the negotiation of religious authority between da'i and AI chatbots among Indonesian Muslims. Adopting a qualitative approach with a digital phenomenology design, the study draws on in-depth interviews with 25 participants who had used AI chatbots for religious consultation, digital observation, and documentary analysis of AI-assisted conversations. Data were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis through iterative coding, theme development, and interpretive analysis. The findings indicate that AI chatbots serve as a form of preliminary religious consultation by providing rapid, accessible, and context-responsive explanations tailored to users' needs. Nevertheless, for issues requiring authoritative religious legitimacy, most participants continued to verify AI-generated information with qualified da'i or recognized Islamic institutions. These findings suggest that AI does not replace religious authority but instead fosters a collaborative model of da'wah communication through the negotiation of technological capability, scholarly credibility, and users' digital literacy. This study proposes the concept of Hybrid Religious Authority as a conceptual framework for understanding the reconstruction of religious authority in AI-mediated Islamic communication within the digital era.