05 Sep REMEMBERING THE CHOFETZ CHAIM ON HIS 90TH YAHRTZEIT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND G-D

Artificial Intelligence
is taking the world by
storm leaving some
awestruck and others
terrified. While many
have begun to utilize
the rapidly developing
technology in a myriad of ways, among the
many concerns some have, believe it or
not, is a fear that some will start to literally
worship AI as experts anticipate the birth
of the “ChatGPT G-d,” a new religion.
Consider this: AI demonstrates a level of
intelligence that goes well beyond the
capability of any human. Its knowledge
and processing speed appear limitless. It
scours everything in cyberspace
instantaneously to access all information
and yields analysis and creativity, answers
questions, composes music, writes poetry,
generates art, and more. It doesn’t need
sleep, has no appetite, is not distracted by
temptations, and doesn’t suffer from pain.
Notable historian, author, and scholar
Yuval Noah Harari has claimed that AI
chatbots like ChatGPT are now capable of
writing their own scriptures and starting

sects and cults, which can evolve into
religion. He, like many of the early
investors in AI who were first to believe in
its power and potential, are now calling for
stricter regulations on AI.
Obviously, we know that chas v’shalom,
AI is not a G-d, it isn’t a deity, and though
increasingly difficult and unlikely, if we
would universally disconnect from
technology and withdraw from integrating
AI into our appliances and applications, let
alone our lives, it couldn’t impact or
influence us or our destiny.
But what if, instead of being threatened
by an AI G-d or religion, we can use it for
inspiration in the relationship with the One
and only true G-d, Hashem?
The Chafetz Chaim, R’ Yisrael Meir
HaKohen, (Shem Olam, Volume I) writes
that while technology adds efficiency,
ease, and comfort to our lives, its ultimate
purpose is to serve as a metaphor that can
strengthen our Emunah, our faith in
Hashem and in His hashgacha, His
providence in the world and in our lives.
Writing a century ago, and relating to the
new inventions of his time, the Chafetz

Chaim says they can
help us understand and
apply the Mishna (Avos
2:1), “Contemplate three
things and you will not
come to make mistakes:
Know what is above
you: a seeing eye, a
listening ear, and all your
deeds being inscribed in
a book.”
Earlier generations
were stronger in their
basic Emunah and didn’t need these
illustrations to bolster their faith but in the
last few hundred years, he writes, when
our faith has weakened and our doubt has
increased, Hashem sends us these amazing
technologies, each designed to help us
connect with another aspect of living with
Emunah.
For example, the telescope enables us to
understand that Hashem sees and observes
everything we do here on Earth, even
though He may be very far away. The
phone enriches our belief in prayer. Just
like we can talk in the phone on one side of
the world and be heard on the other,
Hashem hears all our prayers, even
though there is a great distance for
them to travel. Says the Chafetz
Chaim, the photograph is a recorded
picture of someone who may not even
be aware they are being watched or
that their picture is being taken. It
lasts long after the person is gone.
One day, we will appear before our
Creator Who will review the recorded
life we led that exists even after we are
gone. The phonograph, which is the
recording of a person’s voice that can
be captured and played back later, is a
metaphor for how one day we will be
accountable for all the ways we used
our speech inappropriately to gossip,
criticize or slander.
If the Chafetz Chaim were alive, we
could imagine him adding AI to the list
of learning opportunities to strengthen
our relationship with Hashem. Some
struggle to believe in and have a
relationship with a Power who is
invisible, distant, unperceivable by our
physical senses, and yet who
supposedly knows about and is
involved in the lives of all humanity,
billions of people at once. How could
He sustain the whole world, receive
prayers and needs of countless, and yet
know me, care about me, hear me and
love me?

Enter AI, this phenomenal example of
something man-made that can read and
respond to billions of inquiries at once. AI
programs like ChatGPT or Waze don’t just
give generic answers or one-size-fits-all
directions. Their responses are
individualized, personalized, intended for
the person they are addressing, helping
navigate them to their distinct destination
or answer their specific question or need.
If an app can track and direct millions or
billions of people, all the more so can the
Almighty know everything about every
one of us including where we came from,
where we are heading, what is the best way
to get there and if we have gone off course.
If a website can give us answers to our
questions instantly, l’havdil, Hashem is
listening and responding to all of our
requests and inquiries.
The Ramban in his introduction to Iyov
writes, “We must believe that G-d knows
all individual creatures and the details of
their lives.” Similarly, when speaking
about the consequences for the Metzora,
the Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah #168)
writes, “At the root of the precept lies the
purpose to establish firmly in our spirits
that the watchful care of the Eternal Lord is
individual, over each and every one among
human beings, and His eyes are open to
observe all their ways.”
Chassidus teaches that in the month of
Elul, “HaMelech BaSadeh, the King is in
the field.” He is out of the palace, more
accessible, available and approachable
than any other time of the year. He is
waiting for us to approach Him, talk to
Him, surrender to Him, feel needed by
Him, and receive His navigation and
instructions for our lives.
Though each of us is only one of more
than 8 billion people on earth, our choices
matter and we matter. Never doubt that the
Master of the Universe knows where you
are, where you have come from, know that
He is listening to you and responding and
He is ready to help you navigate to where
you are meant to go.