Rabbi Rael Blumenthal

No doubt, some of you have you experimented with ChatGPT. If you haven't yet, I'd recommend it. It's exhilarating, terrifying, impressive, confusing and humbling all at the same time. These emotions and reactions will no doubt increase as our Artificial Intelligence technology careens forwards into an unknown future.

With all of the hype and hysteria, it's hard to know how far this will go. It's hard to know whether this is the beginning of a new era of prosperity for humanity, or perhaps the beginning of our demise. Or maybe, the hype is entirely unwarranted, and AI will soon reveal itself to be little more than an impressive party-trick.

However it might turn out, the questions it raises now are worth considering. A few weeks ago, one of my Talmidim asked if I thought that there was still any reason to practice English composition. “Now that ChatGPT can write better than I can, why should I have to write essays in schools?!”

This question is more than a student trying to get out of doing homework; the question is meaningful, and the consequences of our approaches here will have major ramifications. I personally wondered if AI will be able to replace me in answering Halchik questions.

This week, I asked ChatGPT: “Could you act as a Rabbi and offer a halachik response?” It took less than five seconds to produce the following reply:

Yes, I can provide general information and explanations of halachic principles based on the knowledge I have been trained on. However, please keep in mind that I am an AI language model and should not be considered a substitute for a qualified human authority, such as a rabbi, when it comes to making halachic decisions. Halachic rulings require consideration of specific circumstances, personal factors, and the application of nuanced legal reasoning, which are best addressed by a knowledgeable and experienced human rabbi. If you have a specific halachic question, I can try my best to provide relevant information, but I strongly encourage you to consult with a trusted rabbi for a comprehensive and authoritative response.

I followed up with a classic Kashrus question, and asked if I could put cheese on pasta which was cooked in a meat pot, to which the AI responded:

In the specific scenario you described, where you cooked pasta in a meat pot, it would generally be advisable to refrain from adding cheese to that pasta. Since the pot was used for cooking meat, it is considered to have absorbed meat flavors, and adding cheese to the pasta could be seen as mixing meat and dairy.

However, there are some leniencies and exceptions in certain cases. One such exception is the concept of “nat bar nat” (lit. “the taste of the taste”). According to this concept, if the pot was completely clean and the pasta was cooked in water without any meat residue or flavor, some authorities allow adding cheese to the cooked pasta. This is because the taste of the meat that may have been absorbed by the pot would be considered so diluted and minimal that it is deemed insignificant.

It's important to note that individual practices and customs may vary within Jewish communities, and some individuals may follow stricter guidelines regarding the separation of meat and dairy. To obtain a definitive halachic ruling for your specific situation, I recommend consulting with a qualified rabbi who is familiar with your personal circumstances and can provide guidance based on your specific dietary practices and community norms.

That’s pretty good. But let’s take a step back, and a deep breath, and realize that ChatGPT is still in its infancy. This particular AI has been extensively trained and censured to ensure that it does not impersonate human beings, or take any level of responsibility for human decisions. Of course, that might not always be the case for future AI's in the coming months and years.

Even so, what might our world look like if everyone had instantaneous access to supremely accurate information about everything? What happens if (or when) a perfectly accurate AI is available on phones, in our ears and embedded into our glasses? What would that do to human achievements and accomplishments?

This all seems so new and daunting, until we realize that we've already dealt with this situation – on a national level. Back then, the superhuman intelligence was not a computer plugged into all of human knowledge. It was Moshe Rabbeinu, plugged into a direct line with the Creator of the Universe. Moshe Rabbeinu who was somewhere between man and angel; not requiring food, drink or sleep.

Imagine having any question about Hashem, Halacha, or the nature of reality, and being able to ask it, and get a verified response from Hashem! This literally occurs in our parsha:

As the second Pesach in Jewish history approached, A group of Jews who were impure approached Moshe asking: לָמָּה נִגָּרַע לְבִלְתִּי הַקְרִב אֶת־קָרְבַּן ה׳ בְּמֹעֲדוֹ בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ – Why must we be excluded from bringing Hashem's Korban (Pesach) at its set time with the rest of the nation?”

Moshe's response: עִמְדוּ וְאֶשְׁמְעָה מַה־יְצַוֶּה ה׳ לָכֶם – “Stand by, and let me hear what instructions Hashem gives about you.”

That's incredible. Instantaneous Divine response.

For forty years in the Midbar, there were no Roshei Yeshiva. There was no Mashgiach. There were no Chiddushim and no machlokes in Halacha. All we had was Moshe Rabbeinu with the clearest prophetic vision in all of human history. We had access to everything.

With this in mind, we might ask: What was the point of our lives in the Midbar? We lived in a world where all of our material needs were provided miraculously – food, water, clothing, shelter and protection – all granted freely by Hashem. Surely life was not simply an endeavor to learn more Torah? Moshe Rabbeinu provided all the answers.

At this point, we must concede that our assumption of purpose is flawed. If we conflate human purpose with human utility, then we might indeed find ourselves outpaced by AI and technology in the near future. But we're not here to be useful for the sake of being useful – we're here to elevate ourselves.

The Torah tells us that Hashem places Adam in Gan Eden לעבדה ולשמרה – To work and guard it. What is this “it” that is the object of this work and safeguarding?

The Seforno (בראשית ב׳:ט״ו) explains:

לעבדה – לעבוד את נשמת חיים To work it: ie. To perfect his own personality.

Self improvement is not a drasha. It's the P'shat of the purpose of humanity since our Creation. The world that Hashem has placed us in is the training ground for this personal perfection.

The Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh (שם) elaborates:

The entire description of Gan Eden is to serve as an example of a spiritual environment. The Torah wanted to illustrate that just as a physical environment such as earth requires “Avoda” – toil, planting, irrigation, etc. in order to produce man's food supply, and “Shmira” – protection against harmful substances that damage the plants, the same applies to our spiritual development.

No amount of access to knowledge can do the work of transforming ourselves into Godly people. No external intelligence – artificial, supernatural or biological can make a mensch out of person who isn't working on themselves.

All of this is to say that our technology might well be moving us towards a world that has more in common with Adam and Chava in Gan Eden, or Moshe and the Dor HaMidbar, than it does with the shtetl of our great-grandparents. Now, in this arena, Hashem is asking us the question: “If I gave you access to infinite wisdom, unmatched physical comforts and the ability to know right from wrong with the press of button, what will you do with that knowledge and those abilities? What will you do with your life and time?”

Were we to ask this question to Moshe Rabbeinu, I know what he would tell us. Indeed, he tells us this Shabbos:

וּמִי יִתֵּן כָּל־עַם ה' נְבִיאִים כִּי־יִתֵּן ה' אֶת־רוּחוֹ עֲלֵיהֶם

If only all of Hashem's people could become prophets, that Hashem would place his Ruach on them.

Moshe's greatest desire was: “If only I was not the only one... If only every Jew could know, understand and speak to Hashem as I do... What a world that would be!”

The advent of AI might soon force us to reconsider our lives and purpose. But the truth is that we should be doing it already; and if we're not, perhaps it's time we begin.

The Sfas Emes (בהעלותך תרמ״ג) makes the point sharply and succinctly:

וכי הרצון לבוא לעלמא דקשוט בכרס מליאה מש”ס ופוסקים?! רק להיות הלימוד בדחילו ורחימו.

Do you really think that Hashem wants you to arrive at the World of Truth with a belly filled with Shas and Poskim?! He wants our life and learning to be with Love and Fear of Hashem.