It’s possible that this article you are about to read was written by a robot. I’m not saying I’m a robot, I’m saying the article could have been written by a robot. For those who are unaware, there is a technology available on the internet called ChatGPT, a form of artificial intelligence. You type a question into a box and the computer answers your question.
Amazing, and also quite frightening and overwhelming. Let me explain the challenge of artificial intelligence or AI in another way. Most of us use AI every single day, we just might not be aware of it. When we call out “Alexa!” or “Siri” and get an answer from an electronic device or order it to do a task for us, we are using AI. When we open Netflix and Netflix recommends certain shows to us based on past preferences, we are using AI. When we fill in a form on the internet to apply for a mortgage and the website we are using tells us if we qualify for a loan or not, we are using AI. When we are texting someone on our smartphone and our phone suggests how we might finish a certain word before we even finish typing that word, we are using AI.
There are four basic challenges. One: AI helps spread wrong information incredibly fast. Two: AI could cause chaos in education. If you have, at your fingertips, a website that can spit out an essay or a book report on any given subject in a matter of seconds, why wouldn’t some people use it to game the system? Three: AI makes some humans obsolete. As middle-aged actor Tom Hanks indicated in a recent interview, today, you could make a handful of movies starring a 30-year-old version of him. You would lose the particular choices a human actor might make in the moment but not everyone would care. Four: AI might be an existential threat to humans. This last danger is particularly articulated by the chillingly named “Future of Life Institute” who explain that, once AI reaches a hypothetical point where it can “think” for itself, humanity could be left behind. “This could eradicate poverty or war; it could also eradicate us.”
Having laid out the challenge, so that we’re all on the same page, let’s dive into just one Jewish response. The best answer from our tradition, for me, is that, as humans, we are uniquely placed to steward and nurture this technology.
In the second chapter of the Book of Genesis, it says, “וַיִּקַּ֛ח יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעׇבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשׇׁמְרָֽהּ, God took the human and placed the human in the Garden of Eden to till it and tend it.” This line is the basis of the idea that, although humans are part of creation, they have extra responsibility to look after that same creation. Given that artificial intelligence technology is exploding right now, our tradition conveys a sense that we need to get a hold of what that means, to thoughtfully steward the world around us, not just look at it in wonder or be reactive to its problems. The basis of this stewardship response is that it’s only humans who really have the moral compass and ethical sensibility to grow this technology thoughtfully. We’re not without fault but we’re the best option for the job of stewardship.
The existence of AI allows us to clarify what it means to be human. Part of what it means to be human is to have morality, a soul, humor, spirituality, and emotions, which machines do not have. Humans are not perfect. We have blemishes, but, on the balance of things, it’s still better that we were created to have a net positive effect on the universe. We should use our uniquely human qualities to carefully steward the impact of AI technology on the world. We are in a position to thoughtfully build a future for humanity to use artificial intelligence in positive ways. We will do that by preserving, celebrating, and using the essence of what makes us human.
