09 Sep AI AND TESHUVAH

This year, many people
are going to try to learn
lessons about how to do
teshuvah from artificial
intelligence (AI). I
am going to go in the
other direction and
discuss how AI shows
the wrong way to approach repentance.
By studying where AI’s processes diverge
from true teshuvah, we can sharpen our
understanding of what real return to G-d
requires.
I. Teshuvah and Commitment
AI learns through correction. A model is
trained, tested, corrected and retrained,
cycling through errors until it gradually
improves. Even after training, when
it interacts with the public, AI accepts
corrections. Have you ever received
nonsensical sources from ChatGPT? If
you challenge the AI, it will acknowledge
the mistake and try again. Often the next
try is nonsense also. However, the AI keeps
acknowledging its errors and attempting
to do better. In one sense, this resembles
the human tendency to stumble repeatedly
before real change takes hold.
However, Rambam defines true teshuvah

differently. In Mishneh Torah (Hilchos
Teshuvah 2:2), he writes that teshuvah is
reached when a person commits to never
repeating the sin. He adds that the Almighty
Himself testifies the sinner will not return
to that transgression. This seems like quite
a high burden. Ostensibly, it means that you
have not accomplished teshuvah unless you
never again become weak and fall prey to
this sin. In other words, your teshuvah is
always conditional until the day that you
die.
The implausibility of this reading leads
commentaries to explain Rambam
differently. Rav Avraham de Boton (16th
cen., Greece) writes that Rambam means
that you call down G-d to testify to your
sincerity (Lechem Mishneh, ad loc.). Rav
Yitzchak Blaser (19th cen., Russia) explains
that G-d testifies that if all things remain
equal, based on current circumstances this
person will not return to this sin (Kochevei
Or, no. 7). Regardless, Rambam requires a
sincere commitment to refrain from this sin
going forward.
This is not iterative, like AI’s process,
but decisive. AI’s endless cycles actually
highlight how people often fall short of full
teshuvah, circling through half-measures
and repeated failures. People might intend

to refrain from sin but they usually
lack commitment to meaningfully
change their lives. However, true
teshuvah demands a higher standard:
an unwavering break with the past,
a level of transformation so deep it
achieves divine affirmation. In this

sense, AI represents the common half-
measure of teshuvah rather than the

necessary full teshuvah.
II. Humility and Focus
In other respects, however, AI can
teach us much about teshuvah. Despite
its impressive capabilities, AI never claims
perfection. It always functions within
boundaries of probability, with an inherent
awareness of error margins. A system
that pretends to be flawless is misleading
and dangerous. Teshuvah begins with the

same humility, the same awareness of self-
limitations. A person who insists on his

perfection, who refuses to acknowledge
failure, cannot change. Recognizing
imperfection is not weakness but strength.
It opens the door to change, to growth,
to excellence. The important lesson for
teshuvah from AI is that accepting your
imperfections does not demonstrate
weakness. It allows for meaningful
improvement.
King David says in Tehillim: “One thing
I asked of the Lord, that which I will
seek: That I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life…” (Ps.
27:4). There is a special significance not
just in what David requests but in that
it is only one thing. Normally in life we
strive for the next world but pray for this
world. The Gemara (Shabbos 10a) tells
how Rava saw Rav Hamnuna, who was
spending a long time in his prayers. Rava
said about him: “They abandon eternal
life (chayei olam, i.e. Torah study) and
engage in temporary life (chayei sha’ah,
prayer).” When we learn and do mitzvos,
we acquire eternal merit, we focus on the
long term spiritual life. When we pray, we
ask for things we need in this world, we
focus on the short term. Rava criticized
Rav Hamnuna for praying too long when
he could have been learning.
The Gemara explains that Rav Hamnuna
set different times for prayer and for
learning. However, the continuation of
the Gemara makes it seem that Rava’s
argument is conclusive. R. Yirmiyah and
R. Zeira were learning Torah. Prayer
time arrived and R. Yirmiyah rushed to
begin his prayers. R. Zeira criticized him,
quoting the verse, “One who turns his ear
from hearing Torah, even his prayer is an
abomination” (Prov. 28:9). According to
Rava and R. Zeira, we have to pray but
we should minimize the time we spend in
prayer so we can learn more Torah. While

we have to live in this world, our focus
should be on the next world.
III. Teshuvah and Focus
Rav Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer
(19th cen., Hungary) explains that David’s
focus was directed to the next world. The
one thing he requested was to live a life
of spirituality, focused solely on the next
world, not on prayer but on Torah and
divine wisdom. No person can reach that on
his own but if we put in our effort, G-d will
help us reach it (Kesav Sofer Al Ha-Torah,
Inyanei Teshuvah, p. 729-730 in the 1995
edition). The proper spiritual attitude is one
of focus on the spiritual life. In this, we can
learn something from AI.
AI is relentlessly focused on its assigned
task. It does not tire, become hungry or
get distracted by bodily desires or idle
curiosity. Once given a goal, it directs
all its energy toward achieving it. This
provides a sharp contrast to human life,
where distractions abound and our spiritual
goals are often sidelined by comfort or
habit. Teshuvah requires recovering that
clarity of focus. Torah and mitzvos define
the ultimate purpose of life, but staying
directed toward them takes conscious
effort. AI’s single-minded drive reminds
us of the concentration we should bring to
avodas Hashem.
None of this implies that AI is capable
of spirituality. Machines cannot repent.
However, their structures and patterns echo
truths about human growth. Iteration, which
falls short of teshuvah, shows how people
often drift into cycles of repeated sin.
Humility teaches openness to correction.
Focus teaches determination. Without the
willingness to change, people not only
remain flawed but descend further. A car
that is not regularly serviced breaks down.
Similarly, a person who does not regularly
reevaluate and adjust his conduct, devolves
into antisocial behavior. AI, a creation of
human ingenuity, unintentionally reflects
some of the same principles that sustain
spiritual life. It shows us where we can go
wrong, and also where we can go right:
committed, humble and focused correction
leads to lasting transformation.