> "I have heard pushback that it won’t be able to answer personal questions because it does not know you personally"
That "pushback" assumes that today's human poskim know you personally. In most large communities (like Lakewood), however, finding a first-rank rav who actually knows you (and has the time to get involved in your sha'ala) is the rare exception.
But as I've written, the question isn't really whether using AI for psak is a good idea or not, but how long it'll be before the majority of frum Jews adopt it for most of their needs.
I agree with your point regarding rabbinic hierarchy and our dependency on rabbonim for psak. I heard Rav Schacter say that he'd be fine with AI giving psak - but not sure if he actually meant it. In any case, psychologically, will we allow ourselves to be led by bots? Will the ghost in the machine feel transcendent enough for semi-Devine authority? The Rebbes Igros work for some, maybe AI is next in line. What about the conception of the human self and its relation to God in a Grimian homotechno world. What does a post AI theology look like?
Determinism - I don't see this as a break from the ongoing three century phenomena of people yelling (in the case of Laplace) "I had no need of that hypothesis". Many would claim that this was one of the main drivers of secularism, hence God-of-The-Gaps debates.
Btw, wasn't sure about the weather example. Weather is a classic chaotic system where unpredictability is inherent to the system. The butterfly effect.
Paradoxically, I feel like A(G)I is providing us with more questions than answers.
All these are very interesting questions, ones I've thought about as well.
Re "I imagine it will be considerably more boring knowing your question was already thought about a thousand times" - this is already the case now in yeshivas. Unlike in academia, there's no significant effort made to see if chiddushim have been said before, other than in the few classic rishonim and achronim
Correct, but I can imagine just the knowledge that you can search an LLM in a second and it will give you everything you could possibly come up with in a sugya would be quite demoralizing. But your point is well taken on the current scholarship level at our yeshivos.
the easiest solution is to decide that AI (of all types) is satanic and refuse to listen to it in any but the most instrumental contexts (which themselves are basically pre-satanic).
I can't see another way out; it seems the simplest solution. I mean it's not that I feel confident that it's satanic, but rather I see no good reason not to assume that it is; it's the most effective form of self-defence.
Google is quite different from an AI model that will have a natural understanding of halachik reasoning being able to tune it to specific poskim or ways of psak (Sephardi/Ashkenazi). I think it will be hard to compete with when the models are providing more sophisticated answers and reasoning than your average posek.
That’s a pretty cynical take on science, doubt you would be saying the same thing if you lived in a 3rd world country with no access to a first world healthcare and utilities system.
Clearly we are entering a period where these claims will actually get put to a test, what happens if they are correct, what does the religious world do?
> "I have heard pushback that it won’t be able to answer personal questions because it does not know you personally"
That "pushback" assumes that today's human poskim know you personally. In most large communities (like Lakewood), however, finding a first-rank rav who actually knows you (and has the time to get involved in your sha'ala) is the rare exception.
But as I've written, the question isn't really whether using AI for psak is a good idea or not, but how long it'll be before the majority of frum Jews adopt it for most of their needs.
I agree with your point regarding rabbinic hierarchy and our dependency on rabbonim for psak. I heard Rav Schacter say that he'd be fine with AI giving psak - but not sure if he actually meant it. In any case, psychologically, will we allow ourselves to be led by bots? Will the ghost in the machine feel transcendent enough for semi-Devine authority? The Rebbes Igros work for some, maybe AI is next in line. What about the conception of the human self and its relation to God in a Grimian homotechno world. What does a post AI theology look like?
Determinism - I don't see this as a break from the ongoing three century phenomena of people yelling (in the case of Laplace) "I had no need of that hypothesis". Many would claim that this was one of the main drivers of secularism, hence God-of-The-Gaps debates.
Btw, wasn't sure about the weather example. Weather is a classic chaotic system where unpredictability is inherent to the system. The butterfly effect.
Paradoxically, I feel like A(G)I is providing us with more questions than answers.
All these are very interesting questions, ones I've thought about as well.
Re "I imagine it will be considerably more boring knowing your question was already thought about a thousand times" - this is already the case now in yeshivas. Unlike in academia, there's no significant effort made to see if chiddushim have been said before, other than in the few classic rishonim and achronim
Correct, but I can imagine just the knowledge that you can search an LLM in a second and it will give you everything you could possibly come up with in a sugya would be quite demoralizing. But your point is well taken on the current scholarship level at our yeshivos.
Fair. You might be interested in my series of related discussion:
https://www.ezrabrand.com/p/follow-up-on-contemporary-methods
the easiest solution is to decide that AI (of all types) is satanic and refuse to listen to it in any but the most instrumental contexts (which themselves are basically pre-satanic).
If AGI was able to pattern recognize all types of cancer months before a human doctor, would you still call it pre-satanic?
Yes. Just as if an individual I have profound ethical reservations about was in a position to save my life, I'd accept their help.
I hear. Why do you assume it is satanic at all?
I can't see another way out; it seems the simplest solution. I mean it's not that I feel confident that it's satanic, but rather I see no good reason not to assume that it is; it's the most effective form of self-defence.
Google is quite different from an AI model that will have a natural understanding of halachik reasoning being able to tune it to specific poskim or ways of psak (Sephardi/Ashkenazi). I think it will be hard to compete with when the models are providing more sophisticated answers and reasoning than your average posek.
You continue to conflate early stage LLMs with the future of the AI space.
Yes. We will always have the Amish Jews, I don’t even account for these sort of luddites.
We will just have to wait and see who is correct, and for the past few decades the techno-optimists have been proven right
The upward momentum of the scientific revolution.
Nothing only a trend.
That’s a pretty cynical take on science, doubt you would be saying the same thing if you lived in a 3rd world country with no access to a first world healthcare and utilities system.
Clearly we are entering a period where these claims will actually get put to a test, what happens if they are correct, what does the religious world do?