AI PROPHETS: RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN AFRICA
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming embedded in African societies, reshaping governance, healthcare, education and everyday social relations. Although existing scholarship has examined AI largely through economic, infrastructural and policy lenses, less attention has been paid to the way religious authority, one of Africa's most influential social institutions, mediates technological change. This omission is significant because faith leaders often shape moral reasoning, public trust and community responses to innovation. This study examines how religious authorities in Africa interpret, engage with and influence the social and ethical reception of AI. It addresses the gap in socioreligious analyses of AI by treating religion not simply as a respondent to technological change but as an active participant in the construction of technological meaning. Guided primarily by the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory, and informed by complementary ethical and sociotechnical perspectives, the study adopts a qualitative analytical approach based on documentary analysis, secondary case studies and interpretive discourse from Christian, Islamic and Indigenous religious contexts across Africa. The analysis shows that religious actors frame AI through diverse moral narratives, ranging from divine stewardship and social utility to moral risk and spiritual caution. These narratives can shape patterns of acceptance, resistance and ethical scrutiny within communities. The findings suggest that religious leaders can mediate between abstract technological systems and lived moral worlds, influencing public trust, ethical deliberation and perceptions of policy legitimacy. The study concludes that the integration and governance of AI in Africa require meaningful engagement with religious authority. It recommends structured collaboration among policymakers, technologists and faith institutions; targeted AI ethics education for religious leaders; and inclusive interfaith dialogue to support culturally grounded and ethically responsible AI governance.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming embedded in African societies, reshaping governance, healthcare, education and everyday social relations. Although existing scholarship has examined AI largely through economic, infrastructural and policy lenses, less attention has been paid to the way religious authority, one of Africa's most influential social institutions, mediates technological change. This omission is significant because faith leaders often shape moral reasoning, public trust and community responses to innovation. This study examines how religious authorities in Africa interpret, engage with and influence the social and ethical reception of AI. It addresses the gap in socioreligious analyses of AI by treating religion not simply as a respondent to technological change but as an active participant in the construction of technological meaning. Guided primarily by the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory, and informed by complementary ethical and sociotechnical perspectives, the study adopts a qualitative analytical approach based on documentary analysis, secondary case studies and interpretive discourse from Christian, Islamic and Indigenous religious contexts across Africa. The analysis shows that religious actors frame AI through diverse moral narratives, ranging from divine stewardship and social utility to moral risk and spiritual caution. These narratives can shape patterns of acceptance, resistance and ethical scrutiny within communities. The findings suggest that religious leaders can mediate between abstract technological systems and lived moral worlds, influencing public trust, ethical deliberation and perceptions of policy legitimacy. The study concludes that the integration and governance of AI in Africa require meaningful engagement with religious authority. It recommends structured collaboration among policymakers, technologists and faith institutions; targeted AI ethics education for religious leaders; and inclusive interfaith dialogue to support culturally grounded and ethically responsible AI governance.