Hasidic rabbis rule: ChatGPT is ‘abomination, heresy...'
May 1, 2023 18:54:28 GMT -5
Post by shalom on May 1, 2023 18:54:28 GMT -5
Hasidic rabbis rule: ChatGPT is ‘abomination, heresy, and heathenry without limits’
MAY 1, 2023
Home » Hasidic rabbis rule: ChatGPT is ‘abomination, heresy, and heathenry without limits’
JEWISH WORLD TECHNOLOGY
More than a dozen rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox Skver Hasidic sect released a letter on Thursday banning the use of Open Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools including ChatGPT and other similar AI apps.
“We must warn about the obstacle and the terrible danger of the new service ‘OpenAI’ and the like,” the letter stated, emphasizing that these forms of artificial intelligence can be used via “computers, telephones with SMS and even simple phones.” The letter warned that although not everyone has yet recognized the danger, the technology poses “a trap for all of us, young and old.”
“We are declaring that this is like internet without a filter, and is open to all abominations, heresy, and heathenry without limits, and brings to all the prohibitions which are considered, ‘You shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes,’ (Numbers 15:39) and it is obvious that it is considered a severe offense.”
“The use of AI is prohibited in any form, even using a telephone,” the letter concluded in an unequivocal rabbinic ruling.
The Skver Hasidic sect, originally from Eastern Europe, is now based in New Square, a small, exclusively-Hasidic village northwest of New York City. The community is led by Rabbi David Twersky and is considered to be more conservative and secluded, even by Hasidic standards.
At least one rabbi has already explored the interface between Torah and AI. In January, Rabbi Joshua Franklin delivered a sermon that had been composed by ChatGPT. But even Rabbi Franklin did not see AI as the future of religion, saying that AI “may be smart, it does not have a soul”.
“ChatGPT might be really great at sounding intelligent, but the question is, can it be empathetic?” Franklin said to his congregation.
Alternatively, at least one website, Rebbe.IO, was developed in 2020 and made publicly available in 2021 and uses AI to answer questions about Halacha (Jewish law).
“This incredible AI system is powered by the most advanced Artificial Intelligence technology publicly available, enabling it to think and reason at the level of actual human intelligence,” the site claims. “Unlike humans, the AI Rabbi has the entire Torah downloaded into its brain, allowing it to scan through thousands of books of Torah in mere seconds to provide quick and accurate answers to questions. This truly is a miracle from Hashem, and we are thrilled to be working hard to spread this technology to all Jews around the world.
“The AI Rabbi is more than just a technological marvel; it represents a significant step forward in the way that we approach Torah study and the observance of Halachot and Mitzvot. By providing instant access to a vast range of Torah texts and teachings, the AI Rabbi has the potential to revolutionize the way we learn and engage with our faith.”
Despite these claims, the site adds the disclaimer that the AI Rabbi may give the wrong answer and it is necessary to refer back to human rabbis and the Torah.
When asked if God exists, Rebb.IO gave a non-committal answer, ending with the following:
“There are many arguments for the existence of God, including the design argument, the cosmological argument, and the moral argument. Ultimately, however, belief in God is a matter of faith, and each person must come to their own understanding of the nature of God.”
This echoed a similar, but far more lengthy, response to this question from ChatGPT which ended in precisely the same words. This acts as a warning that any AI tailored for religious use will necessarily have the same predispositions and prejudices installed in the algorithms by the original (presumably non-religious) programmers.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, gave a dire warning of the dangers posed by AI, hinting that they were a hi-tech form of idolatry.
“Every new technology creates new centers of power that initially benefit the few at the cost of the many,” Rabbi Sacks warned. “Think of the mass enslavements that went with the building of pyramids or the conquests of empires.”
He cited Psalms as hinting at this modern phenomenon.
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see;they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk; they can make no sound in their throats.Those who fashion them, all who trust in them, shall become like them. Psalms 115:4-8
“When technology becomes idolatry it ceases to be life-enhancing and becomes soul-destroying,” Rabbi Sacks wrote. “The moment humans value things, however intelligent, over people, they embark on the road to ruin.”
“The two dangers of the 21st century could not be less alike: super-intelligent computers and highly barbaric radical Islamists,” he concluded. “They will be defeated only by an insistence on the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life.”
link
MAY 1, 2023
Home » Hasidic rabbis rule: ChatGPT is ‘abomination, heresy, and heathenry without limits’
JEWISH WORLD TECHNOLOGY
More than a dozen rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox Skver Hasidic sect released a letter on Thursday banning the use of Open Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools including ChatGPT and other similar AI apps.
“We must warn about the obstacle and the terrible danger of the new service ‘OpenAI’ and the like,” the letter stated, emphasizing that these forms of artificial intelligence can be used via “computers, telephones with SMS and even simple phones.” The letter warned that although not everyone has yet recognized the danger, the technology poses “a trap for all of us, young and old.”
“We are declaring that this is like internet without a filter, and is open to all abominations, heresy, and heathenry without limits, and brings to all the prohibitions which are considered, ‘You shall not stray after your heart and after your eyes,’ (Numbers 15:39) and it is obvious that it is considered a severe offense.”
“The use of AI is prohibited in any form, even using a telephone,” the letter concluded in an unequivocal rabbinic ruling.
The Skver Hasidic sect, originally from Eastern Europe, is now based in New Square, a small, exclusively-Hasidic village northwest of New York City. The community is led by Rabbi David Twersky and is considered to be more conservative and secluded, even by Hasidic standards.
At least one rabbi has already explored the interface between Torah and AI. In January, Rabbi Joshua Franklin delivered a sermon that had been composed by ChatGPT. But even Rabbi Franklin did not see AI as the future of religion, saying that AI “may be smart, it does not have a soul”.
“ChatGPT might be really great at sounding intelligent, but the question is, can it be empathetic?” Franklin said to his congregation.
Alternatively, at least one website, Rebbe.IO, was developed in 2020 and made publicly available in 2021 and uses AI to answer questions about Halacha (Jewish law).
“This incredible AI system is powered by the most advanced Artificial Intelligence technology publicly available, enabling it to think and reason at the level of actual human intelligence,” the site claims. “Unlike humans, the AI Rabbi has the entire Torah downloaded into its brain, allowing it to scan through thousands of books of Torah in mere seconds to provide quick and accurate answers to questions. This truly is a miracle from Hashem, and we are thrilled to be working hard to spread this technology to all Jews around the world.
“The AI Rabbi is more than just a technological marvel; it represents a significant step forward in the way that we approach Torah study and the observance of Halachot and Mitzvot. By providing instant access to a vast range of Torah texts and teachings, the AI Rabbi has the potential to revolutionize the way we learn and engage with our faith.”
Despite these claims, the site adds the disclaimer that the AI Rabbi may give the wrong answer and it is necessary to refer back to human rabbis and the Torah.
When asked if God exists, Rebb.IO gave a non-committal answer, ending with the following:
“There are many arguments for the existence of God, including the design argument, the cosmological argument, and the moral argument. Ultimately, however, belief in God is a matter of faith, and each person must come to their own understanding of the nature of God.”
This echoed a similar, but far more lengthy, response to this question from ChatGPT which ended in precisely the same words. This acts as a warning that any AI tailored for religious use will necessarily have the same predispositions and prejudices installed in the algorithms by the original (presumably non-religious) programmers.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, gave a dire warning of the dangers posed by AI, hinting that they were a hi-tech form of idolatry.
“Every new technology creates new centers of power that initially benefit the few at the cost of the many,” Rabbi Sacks warned. “Think of the mass enslavements that went with the building of pyramids or the conquests of empires.”
He cited Psalms as hinting at this modern phenomenon.
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see;they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk; they can make no sound in their throats.Those who fashion them, all who trust in them, shall become like them. Psalms 115:4-8
“When technology becomes idolatry it ceases to be life-enhancing and becomes soul-destroying,” Rabbi Sacks wrote. “The moment humans value things, however intelligent, over people, they embark on the road to ruin.”
“The two dangers of the 21st century could not be less alike: super-intelligent computers and highly barbaric radical Islamists,” he concluded. “They will be defeated only by an insistence on the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life.”
link
