Golem, AI, Human: 2nd Day Rosh Hashana 

The themes of Rosh Hashanah challenge us the biggest questions, like: “What does it mean to be human?” So, I asked Chat GPT. And it’s answer: having self awareness, the ability to think, reason, feel emotions, and engage in complex social interactions.” Humans also have the capacity for creativity, moral capacity, and a sense of purpose, making [us] unique among species.”

I think our Torah agrees. As is tradition, the beginning of our year brings us to the beginning of our Torah where we encounter the creation of humankind. In the second chapter of Bereshit, God creates Adam in two stages. God first forms the body of Adam from dust from the ground. It was made from earth in the same way that God created the animals. We read: “And God Adonai formed the human out of the soil” And in stage two, God breaths into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and the Adam became a living human” (Gen. 2:7). As God breathes life into Adam’s body, Adam becomes a nefesh chayah, literally, a living soul. It is this soul which activates human consciousness, mind, and body. With this soul, humans are privileged to have unlimited imagination and creativity. We can develop our abilities and talents. We have the capacity to learn and even become creators ourselves, now able to mimic the ability of our own creator.

Another creation story:

It is the 16th century, and in the Jewish quarter of Prague, The Jews are subject to unpredictable pograms, living under constant threat and anti semitic persecution. The renowned Rabbi Judah Loew, also known as The Maharal, prays to God for a way to protect his community. And God answers, “build a Golem.” So the Maharal takes clay from the river and shapes it into a human like form. Some mystics believe that the kabbalistic work, Sefer HaYetizrah, includes the secret formula to making a Golem come to life. In different versions of the story the Maharal recites these forbidden words while dancing around the Golem. In other versions it is the unspoken name of God written on paper and hidden in the Golem’s mouth. Other versions still tell of the Hebrew letters Alef, Mem, Tav that are inscribed on the Golem’s head, declaring “EMET ''- truth that brought it to life. 

But in all versions of the story this spell that animates the Golem is reversible. Because the Golem is unable to reason for itself, it inevitably misunderstands its master and wreaks havoc. The unintelligent Golem finds itself in trouble for simply enacting the tasks of protection for which it was created to do. Eventually, the golem grows fearsome and violent, and its creator is forced to destroy it. 

The secret words are recited again backwards, the paper is torn up, or the letter alef is removed from the Golem to form the word: “Met,” death. But in the most famous version of the story, legend tells that the Golem’s lifeless clay body remains in the attic of the Altneuschul in Prague, ready to be reactivated if needed. (Barzilai, 3)

The similarities between the creation of a Golem and the creation of the human Adam are seen in the way they are both formed from earth and the way they are given life through their master. But the distinction is that from the breath of God, comes a soul- the element that makes Adam human.  Adam then shares this power of Divine ‘coding’ that will allow him to name all the creatures in the animal kingdom, that gives him dominion on his own. We understand from our creation myth to be partners with God in creation, continuing the divine work. Adam is human, with a soul. A golem, but empty clay. 

A third creation: 

In 1965, the forefather of kabbalah studies, Gershom Scholem, proposed to name one of the first computers constructed in Israel ‘Golem Aleph’. In the inauguration speech for the computer, he expressed his hopes that this ‘Golem’ and its creators ‘develop peacefully and don’t destroy the world’. (Barlizai, 11) In 1984, novelist Isaac Bashevis Singer pronounced that the robots and computers of our day are Golems, since we now can endow our technologies with ‘qualities that God has given to the human brain’. Indeed, he argued, ‘we are living in an epoch of golem-making’ (Barzilai, 127). 

In today’s world, artificial intelligence is a technology we encounter daily: whether we’re engaging with navigating systems or using search engines. AI supports personal assistants such as Alexa and Siri. They operate facial recognition and surveillance systems, military drones, and other unmanned vehicles. AI systems are already being integrated into the workflows of thousands of companies, automating tasks ranging from coding, copywriting to medical work. Society reaps and will continue reaping great benefits from AI but potential pitfalls loom as well. We’re already starting to see artists striking against the systems’ ability to mimic and replace human art, and AI algorithms are known to hold biases. 

Like a golem, humans program AI, but AI can then learn and begin to act on its own. While not sentient, or self aware, its ability to follow orders to an extreme has raised many causes for concern- especially from its own creators. 

In 2015, dozens of AI experts signed an open letter, warning of the potential of creating something which cannot be controlled. As the letter alerts: ‘our AI systems must do what we want them to do’ (AI, Open Letter). And anxiety around AI rose again in May 2023 when the nonprofit research and advocacy organization Center for AI Safety released a one-sentence statement: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from A.I. should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks, such as pandemics and nuclear war.” The myth of the Golem as an artificial man-made ‘machine’ that turns against its human masters seems more relevant than ever before.  

The Golem has always been a symbol of the powerlessness of humans against a larger force- be in antisemitism, war, or technology.  

But maybe the original Adam and the Golem hold another similarity. Adam too rebelled against his creator. Returning to Bereshit, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because they ate from the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge. Perhaps then, it is not the soul within us which makes humans ‘like God’. But rather knowledge – our cognitive development, intellectual capacity for creation and invention, our ability to analyze, our self-awareness, and our vast accumulated knowledge – that permit us to be the dominant species on earth. Here, becoming godlike is related to intellectual faculties that later would allow humankind to create our own intelligent Golems, creations in our own image, but in the shape of machines. 

According to AI researcher Susan Schneider, AIs will outmode many human professions within the next decade (Schneider, 9). And if AI will not physically annihilate or replace us,  it might just alter us beyond our current recognition. According to Schneider, “We must come to grips with the likelihood that as we move further into the twenty-first century, humans may not be the most intelligent being on the planet for that much longer. The greatest intelligences on the planet will be synthetic (Schneider, 11).” 

By disabling their golem instead of succumbing to the temptation to misuse its power, all golem stories are a moral warning to us today. We may benefit from its powers, but we don’t allow the golem to destroy our communities or threaten our humanity. And that lesson can be a reminder of how we use AI tools. We can and should use it to help us accomplish goals beyond our intellectual limits. But to use it safely, we need to know when to apply it, but also when to put it down. Because like the Golem who only follows orders, AI can be good at accomplishing goals but dangerous when it doesn't necessarily align with the moral values of its creators.

And that moral compass is what we need to remember so we are clear about what distinctly makes us human. From our time in the Garden of Eden we gained the ability to choose between Good and Evil. And while humans are imperfect in our autonomy, choice is what we must constantly exercise. We must think, critically, and not lose sight of how to weigh decisions and consequences. 

As we enter this new horizon, I believe that Judaism will play an even more important role in grounding us, reminding us what makes us uniquely human.

As Jews, we can look towards our mitzvot for moral and ethical accountability. A framework for helping our choices align with the good. As Jews, we are reminded of our social responsibility, towards others and the world. We must always do Tzedakah to make sure all are cared for and that our world is just. And we must view the world with the lens of Tikkun Olam- a reminder that we should strive to improve. We must uphold our ability to connect with the natural universe, with animals, with the rhythm of the sunrise and the waves of the ocean. As Jews, we live in community, valuing relationships with others. Caring for people we love, sharing life cycles, and marking time with ritual.

And as Jews, we have the capacity for unique spiritual Growth. Made B’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image, our power to create is more than just build- but it is to make art, and music, and tell stories that also ask the deep questions about what it means to be human. We do it through prayer, study self reflection, and the ability to repair ourselves when we have made mistakes with Teshuva that our high holy days offer. 

And yes, as humans we will have fears, and anxiety about our future, about our death, about what it feels like to be in danger. But instead of calling upon a Golem- we must face those fears by using the tools of our tradition, making meaning from our ancient stories. Jewish practice will be a movement that keeps us grounded as humans in relationship with the divine as we march forward into new, untested waters of technological advances. Eating of the tree of knowledge was not a mistake, or punishment, but rather offered us the freedom to exercise our thoughts to make choices about how we live. 

In an age where knowledge and the ability to create are growing exponentially, we return to wisdom of the mishnah where Rabbi Hillel teaches, In a place where there are no humans, we must strive to be human. Let us remember to enthusiastically embrace our own humanness- and remember our souls given by holy breath.  So that we live lives that are imperfect indeed, but uniquely human. 

Shana Tova

References:
Aa. Vv., ‘AI Open Letter – Future of Life Institute’, n.d.: https://futureoflife.org/ai-open-letter/?cn-reloaded=1
Amir Vudka. The Golem in the Age of AI. NECSUS, Spring 2020
Alden Oreck: Jewish Virtual Library: “The Golem” https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-golem
Barzilai, M. Golem: Modern wars and their monsters. New York: University Press, 2016.
McCarthy, J., Marvin, L., Minsky, N., and Shannon, C. ‘A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, August 31, 1955’, AI Magazine, 27 (4), 2006: 12; https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v27i4.1904 (accessed on 22 February 2020).
Nir Eisikovits, “AI is an existential threat, just not the way you think. Scientific American. The Conversation US on July 12, 2023
Schneider, S. Artificial you: AI and the future of your mind. Princeton: University Press, 2019.