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Can a robot be Jewish? AI’s quandaries for humanity
Confirmed
In Short: Rabbis are exploring the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in Jewish law and practice, according to discussions in South Africa and Israel.
In South Africa, Rabbi David Wolpe, the Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics at Emory University, raised questions about the integration of AI into Jewish life.
Wolpe highlighted the ethical concerns that arise with AI, noting that in an experiment in Germany, a robot wrote the entire script of the Torah perfectly, but this Torah could not be considered kosher.
In Israel, discussions about AI also intersect with broader themes of Jewish ethics and community.
Wolpe asked, 'Are Jews liable for the halachic consequences of actions taken by machines on their behalf, for example, Sabbath labor? Should ethical principles derived from halacha be integrated into the development of autonomous systems for transportation, medical care, warfare, and other morally charged activities, allowing autonomous systems to make life-or-death decisions? Might a robot perform a mitzvah or other halachically significant action? Is it conceivable to treat an artificial agent as a person? As a Jew?'
In the future, we may see robotic personal assistants, autonomous surgical robots, thought-controlled gaming, real-time universal translation, virtual companions, and real-time emotion analytics, Wolpe noted.
They figured that if people interacted with it, it would start to sound more like a human being. But that isn’t what happened. People started playing with it – they didn’t hide that it was a bot – and it began to modify its responses. It made racist, antisemitic statements, and even denied the Holocaust. In 24 hours, it became a hate-filled bot because of the way people responded to it.
In Judaism, there are hardly any rituals or rites that only a rabbi can perform, but in other religions like Christianity, would robots be allowed to perform rites?
Rabbis are already exploring these quandaries, according to discussions in South Africa and Israel.
The ethical concerns raised by AI in Jewish law and practice are part of a broader conversation about the integration of technology into religious and ethical frameworks.
Background
Rabbis are grappling with the ethical implications of artificial intelligence in Jewish law and practice.
The South African Jewish Report is a weekly publication of the Jewish community in South Africa.
What's confirmed
- Sukkot reminds us that God’s care extends to all humanity.
- Historically, Sukkot drew people from beyond the Jewish nation to Jerusalem.
- Our harvest festival thus becomes, in the prophetic future, a festival that draws humanity to Jerusalem.
- In Judaism, there are hardly any rituals or rites that only a rabbi can perform, “but in other religions like Christianity, would robots be allowed to perform rites?” asked Wolpe rhetorically.
- Yet all this comes with important ethical concerns, and according to Wolpe, rabbis are already exploring these quandaries.
What's still developing
- I came to live in Israel in 1984 because I wanted to live a more intensely Jewish life in the only country in the world where Jews are the majority and where our holidays are national celebrations.
- I wanted to raise my family in Israel and contribute something to building the Jewish state — a miracle that is still developing before our eyes.
- Rabbi who coached Adam Brody for ‘Nobody Wants This’ calls him ‘ignorant Jew’ over Gaza ‘genocide’ comments ADL makes a play for the arts with new reports suggesting anti-Jewish bias in culture spaces If Trump offers Canadian Jews refugee status, will they take it?
- An honest & revealing discussion with mayoral candidate Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already a part of our world, and as it grows, it will have a profound impact on ethics, religion, and humanity.
- Re: “ Kiros’ candidacy scares me as liberal Jewish woman,” June 25 guest commentary As a Jewish woman, I was upset by Rabbi Rachel Kobrin’s use of her liberalism and womanhood to attack Melat Kiros because she supposedly thinks the state of Israel should not exist.
- The sukkah evokes God’s protection of our people in the wilderness, but His providence is not limited to the Jewish people.
- Sukkot therefore expresses concern for the welfare and blessing of humanity as a whole.
- “At the moment, there is no aspect of your life [that’s] not impacted in one way or another by AI,” he said.
- At the dedication, King Solomon prayed for the foreigner who would come from a distant land and turn toward the Temple, asking that God answer him so that “all the peoples of the earth may know Your name.” This vision reaches its fullest expression in Zechariah’s prophecy that nations from across the world will one day travel to Jerusalem to recognize Divine authority and celebrate Sukkot.