Humanities · OECD FoS 6.3 · China MoE 010107 宗教学
Religious studies
宗教学
L0Not yet transformed → Steady ↓ from L1 Score 0.30 · Last reviewed 2026-10-22 · Next review 2027-04-19
BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH 2026-10-20 AI · incrementalField · major
OpenAI analysis: ChatGPT receives ~70M religion-related requests a week, 45% about Islam and 34% about Christianity ↗
AI: based on Sept 2025–Sept 2026 usage. Field: first scale data on LLMs as a gateway to religious knowledge, raising questions of interpretive authority (OpenAI figures via The Christian Post)
Why this level
Lowered to L0: in religious studies AI is mainly an object of study and an ethical topic (Rome Call 2020, encyclical Magnifica humanitas 2026); tool use is sporadic. Composite below 0.75.
↓ L1 → L0
S = 0.30·method + 0.35·discovery + 0.25·adoption + 0.10·education (education scores 0 when there is no evidence; if empty, the other weights are renormalised)
Sources
- romecall.org/the-first-signatories
- vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-leo-xiv-encyclical-magnifica-humanitas-ai.html
Composite < 0.75: only scattered use or discussion; AI has not changed methods, discovery, practice or teaching. All levels →
Research directions
Scripture digitisation & alignmentReligious text translationAI & religious practice (as subject)
Papers
- Technology Meets Theology: Understanding AI-Driven Wellness in Muslim Prayer Apps
Interviews show AI-driven Muslim prayer apps foster virtual community and religious communication across distances.
2026-10-21 · OpenAlex · Journal of Religion Media and Digital Culture · Ahmed Alrawi, Mustafa Öz
- MythoSemantic: An Interactive System for Discovering Semantic Parallels Across Mythological and Religious Traditions
Embeds mythological and religious texts in a shared space; its geometry matches known historical relations between traditions.
2026-10-20 · arXiv · Nikita Ganziuk, Innokentiy S. Humonen, Ilya Makarov, Pavel Lebedev
- The Shifting Visibility of Tafsīr Authority in the AI Era
Examines how AI reshapes the visibility and authority of Qur’anic tafsīr compared with sanad-based classical methods.
2026-10-20 · OpenAlex · Tanzil Jurnal Studi Al-Quran · Rochmad Rochmad, Miftahul Huda, Ahmad Faris Zein, Mu’adz Ali Murtadho
- Komunikasi Dakwah Berbasis Artificial Intelligence: Negosiasi Otoritas Keagamaan antara Dai dan Chatbot AI di Kalangan Muslim Indonesia
Qualitative study of how AI chatbots negotiate religious authority with preachers among Indonesian Muslims.
2026-10-16 · OpenAlex · Dakwatul Haq: Journal of Da'wah and Islamic Communication · Subairi Subairi, Asyaari Asyaari
- “Well done, My good and faithful servant”: AI-generated religious imagery, white evangelical U.S. American Christian nationalism, and political martyrdom
Analyses AI-generated religious imagery framing Charlie Kirk as a martyr in Christian-nationalist discourse.
2026-10-14 · OpenAlex · Critical Studies in Media Communication · Miriam Wolff
- Who Guides Whom? Negotiating Care, Religious Authority, and Technology in Bangladeshi Muslim Families
Interviews with 38 Bangladeshi Muslim family members on religious authority, digital risk and AI.
2026-10-09 · arXiv · Susmita Biswas, Saiful Islam Tuhin, Faria Soroni, Sharifa Sultana
- ILM: An AI-Powered Storytelling Educational Tool
An AI platform for learning Stories of the Prophets using Arabic NLP and knowledge graphs.
2026-10-08 · arXiv · Suhaila Mohammed, Abdelaziz Serour, Allison Lahnala
- From Normative Frameworks to Alignment Data: Constructing and Evaluating SFT and Preference Data
Experts built ~2.8K SFT examples and 5.4K preference pairs grounded in Islamic ethical traditions.
2026-09-28 · arXiv · Husrev Taha Sencar, Rezart Beka, Danish Naeem, Seda Ozalkan
- From arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv and OpenAlex (last ~30 days); summaries written by AIMap from the abstract.
Milestones 7
Big glowing nodes are leaps: AI leap cool · Field leap warm · double ring = both
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Industry
OpenAI analysis: ChatGPT receives ~70M religion-related requests a week, 45% about Islam and 34% about ChristianityAI: based on Sept 2025–Sept 2026 usage. Field: first scale data on LLMs as a gateway to religious knowledge, raising questions of interpretive authority (OpenAI figures via The Christian Post)
The Christian PostVendor claim -
Policy
Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica humanitas: AI must serve humanityHighest-level Catholic teaching on AI
Vatican News -
Paper
ALMA: automated alignment of ancient texts (Computational Humanities Research)Ancient text alignment tool
Cambridge CoreTo be verified -
Policy
Vatican note Antiqua et nova on artificial and human intelligenceFirst systematic Catholic doctrinal text on AI
Holy See -
Deployment
Lucerne’s St Peter’s Chapel installs “Deus in Machina” AI Jesus in a confessionalFirst public church experiment with AI spiritual conversation
The Guardian -
Policy
Rome Call for AI Ethics signed by the Pontifical Academy for Life, Microsoft, IBM and FAOFirst joint AI-ethics charter by a religious body and tech firms
Rome Call
No milestones match this filter.