States of Knowledge

When LLMs are asked to explain scripture, justify ethical claims, or translate doctrinal concepts into actionable guidance, they participate in shaping what counts as legitimate knowledge, who is authorized to speak, and under what institutional conditions interpretive claims acquire normative force.

“It is a problem of governance and authority: when systems are asked to explain scripture, justify ethical claims, or translate doctrinal concepts into actionable guidance, they participate in shaping what counts as legitimate knowledge, who is authorized to speak, and under what institutional conditions interpretive claims acquire normative force [10,13,18].”

Public credibility depends upon institutional procedures of authorization, review, and validation rather than upon knowledge claims alone.

“Jasanoff's [18] concept of civic epistemologies explains these culturally specific practices by demonstrating that public credibility depends upon institutional procedures of authorization, review, and validation rather than upon knowledge claims alone.”

Communities develop different procedures for determining whose knowledge deserves trust and how competing claims should be evaluated.

“Communities develop different procedures for determining whose knowledge deserves trust and how competing claims should be evaluated.”

The legitimacy of interpretive claims is established through culturally embedded practices of public validation rather than technical correctness alone.

“The legitimacy of interpretive claims is established through culturally embedded practices of public validation rather than technical correctness alone [18].”

Authority is a sociotechnical accomplishment, continuously enacted through the interaction of people, institutions, technologies, and governance practices.

“Science and Technology Studies (STS) provides a useful response by shifting attention from authority as an individual attribute to authority as a sociotechnical accomplishment [18,21].”

Digital platforms, algorithmic systems, and generative AI increasingly participate in the production and circulation of religious knowledge.

“Digital platforms, algorithmic systems, and generative AI increasingly participate in the production and circulation of religious knowledge”

Interpretive legitimacy continues to depend upon institutional authorization, representative mediation, communal recognition, and accountable governance.

“yet interpretive legitimacy continues to depend upon institutional authorization, representative mediation, communal recognition, and accountable governance [13,18,32,37].”

This emphasis aligns with governance approaches that locate accountability in institutional embedding, disclosure regimes, and public-facing design rather than in technical performance alone.

“This emphasis aligns with governance approaches that locate accountability in institutional embedding, disclosure regimes, and public-facing design rather than in technical performance alone [13,18] (Table 2).”