SmarTek21, a global leader in Conversational AI and data management solutions, has been selected by Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai (IACAD) to implement “Virtual Ifta”, an intellibot system providing answers and clarifications to queries related to Islamic affairs and fatwas. Currently, IACAD addresses 5,000 such queries each month via telephone and a network of muftis, experts on interpreting Islam. Virtual Ifta will be able to address an exponentially higher volume of questioners not only by telephone but through web browsers and smartphone apps such as WhatsApp and IACAD’s mobile app for IOS and Android. Users can get answers to their questions anytime, anywhere in writing or verbally, and in either Arabic or English.

“Conversational AI platforms have quickly emerged as the vehicle of choice for enhancing the user experience, automating tasks, and processing information”, said Al Lalji, CEO of SmarTek21. “With Virtual Ifta, IACAD will be able to provide immediate, rich, and accurate information to vastly more users than ever, all while reducing costs.”

Virtual Ifta will be based on SmarTek’s industry-leading SmarBotHub platform, which was recently recognized by Gartner as one of the leading conversational platforms for the second year in a row. SmartBotHub uses advanced artificial intelligence techniques to ensure a highly natural user engagement that provides rich and accurate information. Virtual Ifta will be trained by a team of IACAD experts to answer a broad array of questions on topics ranging from prayer to charity to pilgrimage. In those cases where the system cannot provide an answer with a high degree of confidence, it will use “Human in the Loop” functionality to seamlessly hand over the session to a human agent. Built-in feedback mechanisms enable system administrators to further train the system on that topic so that it can handle similar queries more successfully in the future.