The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Newsletter June 23, 2025 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

A global thinker on the topic of Articificial Intelligence recently shared that there is nothing intelligent about artificial intelligence. Why? Because it is simply based upon predictive text-- and not actual thought.

And yet it can be an incredibly powerful resource and tool in the human yearning for efficiency and productivity and even entertainment. For instance, one can ask AI to share a chapter from the Talmud in the style of a rap battle or even a Shakespearean tragicomedy. But AI may also be used to synthesize information in other areas, too-- areas that are no laughing matter. A jilted lover might use AI to geo-locate an ex. An assassin might use AI to find a high profile target. Paramilitaries might use AI to find a competing warlord. 

AI is a new technology, and it is hard to imagine all of the potential ends this technology could bring about once it is spun out in an unencumbered society. 

But we are starting to imagine: What does AI do to the future of authorship? Therapy? Biotechnology? War strategy? Farming? Education? Healthcare? Building? And the list goes on…

We are at the earliest stages of beginning to grasp the incredibly powerful tool that is AI. And yet, as deeply thoughtful and tenderhearted engagers of society, we must go down these rabbit holes and think about raising the questions of ethics that emerge. 

In many ways, the question becomes: how efficient do we need to be if it threatens the values of, say, privacy, human rights, accountability, authenticity, democracy, and equity? In many ways, the prospect of a fully integrated and easily accessible AI system brings all of that into question. 

And even if we put guardrails on our usage, as Europe is doing, if the rest of the world isn't putting these protections in place, where does that leave us?

I have been digging into the capabilities of AI, learned Python programming through Stanford University, and talked with dozens of AI trailblazers pushing the envelope into this new domain. I am as throughly amazed at how fundamentally AI will change virtually everything we know, as I am throughly convinced that with all the thinking it has to offer, it will still need human wisdom to help guide its responsible use. As someone who takes Jewish thought and values seriously, I am captivated by the prospect of applying ancient principles to modern tech like this.

Join me in a very special discussion Wednesday, June 25th at 11am PT/2pm ET, as we begin to consider Keeping AI Sacred. What do you know about it? What questions of ethics do you have? What do you want to learn? Details below. Please register HERE.

Considering what the future holds and how to keep it sacred is how we're keeping it sacred. 

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred…

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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