THE AI-GENERATED PREACHER: SIMULATED RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY AND THE NEGOTIATION OF AUTHENTICITY IN INDONESIAN DIGITAL ISLAM

This study examines the emergence of AI-generated preachers as a new phenomenon in Indonesia's digital Islamic landscape, focusing on the formation of simulated religious authority and the process of negotiating authenticity in the digital space. The development of generative artificial intelligence allows the creation of virtual preacher figures that are able to produce religious narratives, mimic communication styles, expressions, and religious performances that resemble human preachers. This phenomenon raises conceptual issues regarding how religious authority is formed when the source of messages no longer comes entirely from human subjects, but from algorithmic systems that work through data, language models, and representation simulations. This research uses a qualitative-conceptual approach through theoretical synthesis to analyze the relationship between performativity, religious authority, and authenticity in a digital context. The analysis shows that religious authority in the digital space is not only determined by scientific competence, sanad, and institutional legitimacy, but is also increasingly influenced by communicative performance, visual aesthetics, technological affordability, and audience acceptance. In this context, AI-generated preacher can be understood as a form of simulated religious authority, which is an authority that appears convincing through technological performance, but does not fully have the religious experience, moral intentionality, and epistemic responsibility like human religious figures. Conceptual findings also show that authenticity is no longer treated as a singular and fixed quality, but is negotiated continuously through the interaction between users, technology, religious traditions, and the logic of digital platforms. Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis kemunculan pendakwah berbasis kecerdasan buatan (artificial intelligence/AI) dalam dinamika Islam digital Indonesia, khususnya terkait pembentukan otoritas keagamaan dan negosiasi autentisitas. Objek kajian penelitian ini adalah pendakwah berbasis AI sebagai figur virtual yang mampu menghasilkan narasi keagamaan, membangun gaya komunikasi, dan mereplikasi performa pendakwah manusia. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif-konseptual melalui analisis kritis terhadap konsep performativitas, otoritas keagamaan, dan autentisitas dalam konteks digital. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa pendakwah berbasis AI dapat dipahami sebagai simulated religious authority (simulasi otoritas keagamaan), yaitu bentuk otoritas yang memperoleh kesan legitimasi melalui performa teknologi, tetapi tidak sepenuhnya memiliki pengalaman religius, agensi moral, dan tanggung jawab sebagaimana pendakwah manusia. Selain itu, autentisitas tidak bersifat tunggal dan tetap, melainkan dinegosiasikan melalui interaksi antara pengguna, teknologi, tradisi keagamaan, dan logika platform digital. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa kemunculan pendakwah berbasis AI menuntut pemahaman ulang mengenai legitimasi otoritas keagamaan di ruang digital. Secara konseptual, penelitian ini menawarkan kerangka untuk memahami hubungan antara performa algoritmik, otoritas keagamaan, dan negosiasi autentisitas dalam Islam digital Indonesia.