Artificial Or Genuine Intelligence: A Torah Approach to AI

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Artificial intelligence, commonly known as AI, has rapidly become one of the most influential technologies of the modern era. Not long ago, the idea of a machine that could write, translate, analyze information, create images, or hold a sophisticated conversation belonged to the realm of science fiction. Today, AI is woven into everyday life.

At face value, it seems like AI is a wonderful addition to our busy lives and is saving us a lot of time and effort. However, when AI replaces humans as is being seen across the business sector, we begin to worry whether machines will render humans redundant.

But there is a deeper question that a Jew must ask: Just because something can make our lives easier, does that mean we should always use it?

The question becomes particularly relevant when it comes to Torah.

Writing Torah articles and creating a shiur on Torah topics has never been easier with the help of AI. However, Hashem wants us to labor over His holy work and devote time and effort to these lofty pursuits. Simply relying on Artificial Intelligence eliminates a lot of work and stress but it also negates the need to put one’s heart and soul into Torah matters. After all, Pirkei Avos teaches us “Lefum tza’ara agra”—according to the effort is the reward.”¹

Hashem doesn’t just value the end result; He values the time and toil that we invested in getting that result. The destination is important but perhaps more important is the journey that we undertake to get there.

The Gemara² repeatedly emphasizes the importance of ameilus b’Torah – toiling over Torah. Great talmidei chachamim did not become great due to their extraordinary wisdom alone. They became great because of the hours they poured in and the effort they exerted to understand the meaning of the sacred words before them. Delving into a Torah text helps one develop patience, discipline, perseverance, humility, and faith that the Torah is worth struggling over.

That is something a machine cannot give us.

Using AI to make our lives easier will indeed save us a lot of time. But it may also make us passive and lazy. If AI can complete a task faster and better than a human, why should a person bother trying it at all? Hashem put us into this world to refine our middot³ and this only happens when we exert ourselves and stretch ourselves to the limits of our endurance.

AI is quick and super-efficient. When used often it fosters the illusion that speed and efficiency are prized above all else. We admire gadgets that save time, reduce inconvenience and eliminate effort. But this starts to have an effect on our relationships with those around us. Relationships are born with time, effort, love and patience. They cannot be rushed or hurried. They are built slowly, step by step, gesture by gesture and conversation by conversation. AI may be able to remind us of birthdays of loved ones and may even be able to compose beautiful messages to celebrate those birthdays, but it lacks heart and a personal touch.

Furthermore, AI seems to produce incredible results almost effortlessly. It cons us into thinking that life should be smooth and problem-free. The Torah teaches us the exact opposite. Our greatest leaders were faced with tremendous challenges and became great because they persevered in the face of difficulty. Avraham was challenged ten times by Hashem. Yitzchak was commanded to lie on the mizbayach to be sacrificed by his father. Yaakov was tricked into marrying the wrong sister by his conniving father-in-law. Their lives were fraught with challenges, yet they became great not despite them but because of them.

Does this mean that it’s wrong to use technology and AI in our everyday lives to help us expedite tasks and organize information? No, certainly not.

But not everything valuable should be made faster.

Consider our relationships.

Friendships, marriages, families, and communities are built through time, patience, attention, and effort. They cannot be automated. They cannot be rushed. They are created slowly—conversation by conversation, act of kindness by act of kindness, moment by moment.

This should definitely be used and embraced by a thinking Jew. AI becomes more problematic when it is used not to aid people, but to eliminate human judgment entirely. Artificial Intelligence should always be governed and navigated by human intelligence.

As wise as AI is, it does not possess a brain nor a neshama. That is gifted to a Jew alone. Only a Jew can notice his fellow Jew in pain and extend him a helping hand.

Only a Jew can see a child in distress and stop to ask what’s bothering him. Only a Jew can hear of someone’s simcha and wipe away tears of joy and unity.

Let us embrace this wonderful technological advancement and use it to save us time and energy. But let us not forget that AI can never replace the human heart or brain. As great as Artificial Intelligence is, it can never come close to the luminous neshama residing within the heart of a holy Jew.