Muslim students’ acceptance of artificial intelligence in Islamic religious education: an extended TAM approach

Abstract The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and religion in today’s world has presented various challenges, such as plagiarisms, the credibility of AI and, its acceptance by students. This study uses an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework to analyse Muslim students’ perceptions towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in learning Islamic education in Indonesia. The data of this study consisted of 224 Muslim student respondents collected from 12 universities through random sampling technique assisted by the Indonesian Islamic Higher Education Lecturer Association (ADPISI) and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The main findings indicate that Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) has a significant effect on Perceived Usefulness (PU). Meanwhile, PU has a direct influence on Attitude Toward Using AI (AT) and on Behavioural Intention to Use AI (BI). In addition, AT is also an important determinant in shaping BI. These results prove that the easiness and usefulness that students get from artificial intelligence (AI) technology in learning Islam are the main factors in shaping students’ positive attitudes and intentions to use AI in Islamic religious education. Although the level of AI use in the context of religious learning is still limited, students show positive attitudes. that even in Islamic religious education, Muslim students tend to use artificial intelligence (AI) in their learning. The implications of these findings encourage the development of AI systems that are adaptive to Islamic values and ethics.