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I don’t know about you, but I do not like using cruise control. I don’t trust it and it makes me feel uneasy. Only recently did Natan convince me to start using it for highway driving. And… much to my surprise, I have slowly begun to appreciate it… especially with all of the latest safety features in my minivan (another one of those things I never thought I would get!). In cruise control mode with radar and lane assist engaged, the car is practically autonomous and self-driving. However, an alarm does go off alerting you that the system will turn off soon unless you put your hands back on the wheel. For some reason, it seems we have not quite reached the level of fully autonomous vehicles even though the technology clearly exists. Have you ever wondered why?

Though the answer may seem to belong in the purely secular realm, Jewish wisdom can help a great deal. It makes me think about one of the best parts of being a rabbi - the opportunity to engage in continual growth and study, the conferences and fellowships that enhance our way of thinking and the way we serve our Jewish communities.

Out of all the study sessions and lectures I have been fortunate enough to attend, there is one session that stands out clearly above the rest, one that occurred right here in Atlanta with one of the foremost scholars on Jewish ethics. It was a session on the ethical implications and consequences of this very topic, self-driving cars.

While I won't go into all the details here, in the session we discussed the following scenario: A self-driving vehicle is going down the road and has to make an instant decision...Does the car crash into the wall and endanger its passengers or does it turn left and hit pedestrians? Which human life takes precedence? Which computer-driven, split-second decision will cause the least amount of bodily harm? And, if driven by a computer, then who is liable for any harm caused? 

Through debate and dialogue we explored the many ethical algorithms and asked the question: how do we use our Jewish values to teach a vehicle to make ethical decisions? Is it even possible?

In that moment, the scholar urged us to think about our ancient Jewish texts in a new and critically important way. It highlighted for me, yet again, the relevance of our timeless wisdom, and made me apply that wisdom to the incredible day and age in which we currently live.

This session was led by none other than Dr. Paul Root Wolpe, the Raymond F. Schinazi Distinguished Research Chair in Jewish Bioethics at Emory University... And we are honored to host him this Shabbat during services as our Chyatte Guest Lecturer.

Wolpe will raise for us the many questions that come along with this new world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that has burst onto the scene in the form of Chat GPT and others.  As AI becomes more and more prevalent, it will confront us with ethical dilemmas about which we could not have dreamed prior. As you attend Services, perhaps you will find yourself asking the question: did Rabbi Brad Levenberg really write that sermon? Did Rabbi Ron Segal really write that brilliant article? Or… did artificial intelligence write it?  

I think about this week’s Torah portion and how it calls for all generous and skilled Israelites to come forward and help build the mishkan, the portable tabernacle. The Hebrew used to describe these volunteers is chacham lev, literally--wise of heart. Only through wisdom of heart can we build a sacred community and artificial intelligence can never replace that. 

Even with the advent of these complex, ethical questions, we look to our timeless tradition to find certainty. Even with mind-blowing technology that further attaches us to our screens, we look to our tradition to maintain our human connection and our wise heart.  

This Shabbat, Dr. Wolpe will shed insight and provide us with a new way of understanding the complex world in which we live. We hope you will join us for a fascinating and reflective Shabbat service.