Thousands of years of tradition should help guide the development of A.I.
 | By Max Strasser |
One of the most famous Jewish folk tales is about the Golem of Prague. It goes something like this: In the 16th century, the Jews of Prague were being terrorized by their anti-Semitic neighbors. A leading rabbi had what seemed like a smart idea: He'd create a powerful Golem — a kind of monster made from clay and infused with the spirit of life — to fight back. Sounds like a good plan, but you know how these things can go. The Golem, created with the best of intentions, grew bigger and stronger until he became a danger to those he was supposed to help. Eventually, the rabbi had to put the Golem down. |
Even if you've never heard this particular story before, it's probably not entirely unfamiliar. It resembles "Frankenstein" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," among other stories. But I worry that it may be similarly applicable to something less mythological and more contemporary: artificial intelligence. |
The Golem is just one small detail in today's essay by Linda Kinstler. But when she first mentioned it months ago in one of our early phone calls about the piece, it just clicked for me. "Of course!" I thought, "The algorithm is a Golem!" |
That cautionary tale is just one of the many ways that the world of Silicon Valley may stand to learn from religions, their traditions and texts. |
Linda spent months thinking about what role religion could play in shaping ethics and values around technology and, specifically, A.I. She talked to dozens of people — Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus; pastors, programmers and executives — who want to ensure that religion has a seat at the table, as wildly powerful corporations like Google and Amazon reshape our world with their technology. |
"Each in their own way," Linda writes of the religious people she talked to, "they were working to use their religious traditions toward advancing social justice and combating the worst impulses of capitalism." That's not necessarily easy in the ultra-secular — often militantly atheist — culture of Silicon Valley. But it strikes me as important. |
A.I. technology already has the power to shape how we live; it is going to grow bigger and stronger. A solid sense of morality and ethics should guide its development. Thousands of years of tradition is a good place to start. |
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