Ume Sabeekah
As I watch any toddler playing with a mobile in different waiting areas, it hurts to see how we have changed the perceptions of intelligence.
Giving artificial happiness through devices fueled by AI (AI) can lead to weaker eyesight, weak memory storage methods of the brain and last but not the least emotional/physical wellbeing.
Even toddlers are affected just like elders by the hype surrounding AI.
For context, AI refers to programming computers to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence and input, often by learning patterns.
AI is a human invention, and manmade stuff will always be lesser in comparison to the creation of God. With manmade things, there will always be flaws and disadvantages.
Like everything in this temporary abode of life, everything has its pros and cons. AI has the same plethora of advantages and disadvantages. For example, one of the advantages include artificially increasing supporting roles in countries or organisations with less manpower.
AI, with the help of algorithms lets you watch your favorite reels (short videos online)/videos, people and places in a way that your feed becomes curated to keep you engaged and makes you constantly return. This develops an unending thirst for that kind of content.
It tracks what you like and in a way makes you a prisoner of it, which consumes other aspects of your life which require time and energy, such as family, studying, health & fitness and last but not the least – prayer time – the reason behind human existence, as God Almighty says:
“And I have not created the Jinn and the men but that they may worship Me.” (Surah adh-Dhariyat, Ch.51: V.57)
Below is an explanation of the benefits and disadvantages of AI, and how it can potentially adversely affect various aspects of life.
Education
The technology of accessing education of any field at your fingertips is both an advantage and disadvantage.
This abundance of knowledge may help a research student in the underdeveloped world with limited library/resource access. But it can’t be a direct substitute for the type of knowledge gained through hard work and research.
As a simple example, say I want to know the capital of a country. I type it in any world-famous search engine. The name of the country comes up with the correct spelling and all related videos and information about it.
Had I searched for the country in an atlas map, I probably would have learnt its location better, such as whether it is in the southern hemisphere or northern, which continent and land mass it is a part of, and the specific geographic location of that city within its country.
Many will testify that this old-school or seemingly outdated method helps a student memorise such facts the first time they search for them. This is called “Picture Superiority Effect”.
Medicine
As far as advantages are concerned, AI helped collect Covid data globally and continues to do so relating to other infectious and non infectious diseases.
Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is also used in predicting diseases accurately. With the help of AI, the lowest possible cost approach decreases financial pressure on patients and their families.
AI can help detect infrequent symptoms and help quicker decision making in healthcare industries and hospices. In endocrine and metabolic research, AI continues to support humans in precision medicine, therapeutic efficacy and patient monitoring. (B Ihnaini, MA Khan, TA Khan, S Abbas, MS Daoud et al, “A smart healthcare recommendation system for multidisciplinary diabetes patients with data fusion based on deep ensemble learning,” Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2021, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-16)
Dental as well as ordinary surgeries and disease protection are being assisted with AI technology to prevent infection. (TM Ghazal, S Abbas, S Munir, MA Khan, M. Ahmad et al, “Alzheimer disease detection empowered with transfer learning,” Computers, Materials & Continua, 2022, Vol. 70, No. 3, pp. 50-65)
Despite all of this help provided by AI, the physician remains indispensable. AI can never give compassionate, patient centered care the way a human being can.
Cybersecurity
In the cybersecurity sector, AI has had an upward trajectory in helping humans. Cylance – owned by Blackberry – is an AI fueled endpoint security solution. It prevents devices from threats.
There is improved detection and response to external threats. Adaptability has increased due to AI in detecting widespread network traffic and consumer behaviour.
AI driven deception technology helps trick attackers and brings forth their identity. This helps in early warning systems in organisations.
Overall, for the time being it can be said that AI has had a net-positive impact in cybersecurity.
Despite this, effective, speedy and scalable cybersecurity will always rely on ethical judgement of humans.
Research
There are both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to research.
The lack of research abilities, decision-making skills, self-reliance and hard work in students who choose ChatGPT and other AI chatbots for educational purposes is ever increasing, even amongst educational institutions such as universities and think tanks.
AI is already replacing many jobs, and this added decrease in competence due to outsourcing critical thinking and research related tasks to chatbots can exacerbate this trend. This disadvantage alone will push back the livelihoods of many people in different segments of society. (“Impact of robots and AI on labor and skill demand: evidence from the UK”, springer.com, 26 August 2025)
When it comes to factual information, AI can at times be faulty and not provide sufficiently authentic information, jeopardising the credibility of such content even further.
There is no doubt that AI has sped up the process of finding references and citations, which can be accessed within minutes rather than the traditional way where one would have to go through books and encyclopedias. However, we must ask ourselves, is the cost worth it?
Governance
According to well-known and respected research and educational sources, governments should be cautious because if jobs are taken away, then the governments will receive less tax funds.
When people have an income, they pay taxes for the government to function. It is by virtue of these taxes that a government can run. When income decreases, economies will begin to collapse. Then, governments will say that AI should be shut down. The only solution is to develop contentment and fulfilment. (“Automation and taxation”, Oxford Economic Papers, 15 March 2024)
This prediction was in line with the opinion of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa when asked about the impact of AI on jobs in the future.
Although there may be many apparent advantages to reducing government spending by slashing jobs and replacing humans with AI technology, the resulting decrease in taxes would offset the benefit.
Disaster Management/ Pollution
Expert systems are being developed for mitigating erosion and sedimentation due to storm water during construction activities according to research. Data driven quick decision making is supported vastly by AI. (“Knowledge Based Expert System for Minimising Stormwater Erosion and Sedimentation in Malaysian Construction Sites”, ijaseit.insightsociety.org, accessed on 2 December 2025)
More than a network connection
The connection to God Almighty that early Muslim as well as many non-Muslim scientists had – some of whom were true pioneers of science – helped in discovering new inventions, developing research analysis and improved decision making.
For example, behind every element of the Periodic Table is a story of human hands – a story of research, hard work, resilience, physical experiments and scientific examinations.
In addition, there has always been the unique guidance of the Greatest Creator and Inventor Who is Omnipotent and the most Powerful, Who helped Scientists and steered them to success and innovation.
If it wasn’t for God’s laws of nature, the apple wouldn’t have fallen from the tree, and Newton would never have discovered gravity – let alone all other discoveries and inventions attributed to him.
The connection of the human soul to the Creator of everything, the Giver of life is the key element to true, ethical progress. God is what helps steer mankind to better decision making.
AI and technology do not have morals and ethics the way humans do, nor do they have a soul which holds them spiritually accountable. Souls are caring, comforting and connected to God. AI is not supposed to be that by design – thus there is a real possibility that it can mislead humans, organisations and maybe even entire countries to their destruction.
Conclusion
Just like an air freshener can never replace a tree, AI can never replace human intelligence and spiritual accountability.
What we can and should do is to use AI to support human intelligence to make decisions and not vice versa. Strong authority over AI decisions is quintessential.
Rather than letting AI make decisions for you, make them yourself after human consultations, analytical and critical thinking, prayers to the One Who guides, with AI acting as a supplementary source.
What would AI know about the love for one’s religion, family or country. It can never realise the depth of emotions involved the same way that humans do.