Saudi Arabia has refuted reports claiming that robots driven by artificial intelligence (AI) would be replacing muezzins for calling the Adhan, or call to prayer, from the Grand Mosque in Makkah.
Saudi Arabia has deployed a set of AI-powered robots to help worshippers during their visit to the Grand Mosque.
The robots, which were unveiled over the weekend, will be used to transmit sermons and the adhan from imams and muezzins to worshippers.
Visitors can download content from the robot, such as Quranic verses, by scanning the barcodes with their smartphones.
They can converse verbally with the robots to get more general details about the imams and muezzins, including their weekly itineraries.
Inaccurate Reports
However, some news sites have falsely claimed that the Kingdom was replacing Muezzins with robots. The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques, led by Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, has since denied these reports.
“It has been falsely claimed by a number of media outlets that the Presidency of Haramain’s recently unveiled AI-equipped robots that will take the role of Muezzins and call the Adhan in Makkah. This is incorrect. The robots will simply serve as a guide in terms of information delivery,” Sheikh Al-Sudais said.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia installed a number of AI-powered robots in the Grand Mosque, including ones that were trained to clean the area around the Kaaba.
In December, the Kingdom launched a “Virtual Black Stone Initiative” that allowed Muslims to digitally view and touch the Hajar al-Aswad or the Black Stone, a rock positioned in the eastern corner of the Kaaba, without ever leaving their homes.
