Part 0: Modern Technologies: Computers are smart.
Perception:
2011 -A convolutional neural network wins the German Traffic Sign Recognition competition with 99.46% accuracy (vs. humans at 99.22%).
2015 - Surpassing Human-Level Performance on ImageNet Classification
(Human Error: 5.1%, Deep Learning: 4.94%)
Decision Making / Intelligence:
1997 - DeepBlue - first defeat of a reigning world chess champion by a computer
2011 - Watson competes on Jeopardy! and defeats two former champions.
2015 - DeepMind - Google beats grandmaster at Go
2017 - Libratus - CMU researchers beat professional poker players
In this shiur/class...
1. What is intelligence?
2. What defines a human according to Jewish law?
3. How are humans different than...animals? angels? Golems?
4. What guidance can we get about 21st century technology through ancient texts and commentary?
Why do we care?
- Halachik/Legislative
- Philosophical
Part 0: In the Media: When do we consider robots human?
Part 1: Defining a Human. A Halachik/Legal Discussion.
Definition: Golem / Anthropoid (source: [Rabbi] Wikipedia)
In Jewish folklore, a golem (/ˈɡoʊləm/ GOH-ləm; Hebrew: גולם) is an animated anthropomorphic being that is magically created entirely from inanimate matter (specifically clay or mud). The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing.
The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late-16th-century rabbi of Prague. There are many tales differing on how the golem was brought to life and afterward controlled.
During the Middle Ages, passages from the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) were studied as a means to create and animate a golem, although there is little in the writings of Jewish mysticism that supports this belief. It was believed that golems could be activated by an ecstatic experience induced by the ritualistic use of various letters of the Hebrew Alphabet forming a "shem" (any one of the Names of God), wherein the shem was written on a piece of paper and inserted in the mouth or in the forehead of the golem.
The First Golem
(7) the LORD God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
Primary Source
רבא ברא גברא שדריה לקמיה דר' זירא
הוה קא משתעי בהדיה ולא הוה קא מהדר ליה
אמר ליה מן חבריא את הדר לעפריך
Indeed, Rava created a man, a golem, using forces of sanctity. Rava sent his creation before Rabbi Zeira.
Rabbi Zeira would speak to him but he would not reply.
Rabbi Zeira said to him: You were created by one of the members of the group, one of the Sages. Return to your dust.
| שאלות ותשובות חכם צבי |
נסתפקתי אדם הנוצר על ידי
ספר יצירה כאותה שאמרו בסנהדרין רבא ברא גברא וכן העידו על זקני הגאון מורי הרב אליהו אבד דק׳׳ק חעלם... מי מצטרף לעשרה לדברים הצריכין עשרה כגון קדיש וקדושה?
מי אמרינן כיון דכתיב ונתקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל לא מיצטרף או דילמא כיון דקיי׳ל בסנהדרין "המגדל יתום בתוך ביתו מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו ילדה מדכתיב 'חמשת בני מיכל ילדה' וכי מיכל כאילו ילדה אלא מירב ילדה ומיכל גדלה כו׳" ה’כ כיון שמעשה ידיהם לשל צדיקים הוא הוה ליה בכלל בני ישראל שמעשה ידיהם של צדיקים הן הן תולדותם.
ונראה לי דכיון דאשכתן לרבי זירא דאמר ’מן הברייא את תוב לעפרך׳׳ הרי שהרגו ואי ס׳ד שיש בו תועלד לצרפו לעשרה לכל דבר שבקדושה לא היה רבי זירא מעבירו מן העולם דאף שאין בו איסור שפיכת דמים דהכי דייק קרא (אף שיש בו דרשור אחרות) שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך׳׳ דוקא אדם הנוצר תוך אדם דהיינו עובר הנוצר מעי אמו הוא דחייב עלי׳ משום שפיכת יצא ההוא גברא דברא רבא שלא נעשה במעי אשה. מ׳׳מ כיון שיש בו תועלת לא היה לו להעבירו מן העולם אלא ודאי שאינו מצטרף לעשרה לכל דבר שבקדושה כך נ׳׳ל.
Responsa of Chacham Tzvi (Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi)
I've contemplated: A person that is created by the means of The Book of Creation [i.e. a golem], just like those described in Tractate Sanhedrin: "Rabba created a being" and also as witnessed by our elder Gaonim, my father and teacher R. Eiyahu Ba'al Shem of Helm...
can they be counted as part of the ten (minyan) for prayers that require ten such as Kadish and Kedusha?
Do we say that since the Torah states "And I shall be sanctified within Bnei Yisrael" [and Golem was not at Mt. Sanai] it should not be counted or perhaps [he should be counted], since it stated in
Sanhedrin 19a: 'He who rears an orphan in his home Scripture considers it as if he had begotten him', since its written "Five sons of Meichal" which suggests Michal bore the children however Meirav actually bore them. Rather, Meirav birthed them and Michal raised them, so too here, since he [the golem] is the product of the handiwork of the righteous it is considered generally part of Bnei Yisrael. Since it is made from the hands of the righteous it is their descendent.
It seems to me, that since R. Zeira killed it, since the Gemara states, "Creature, return to the dust" thus he killed him. And if you thought that it could participate in the ten for things that require Keduasha, then R. Zeira would not have removed it from this world, that even though he does not have a prohibition of "spilling blood", since the Torah states "Whoever sheds the blood of man, By man shall his blood be shed;"--specifically a person created by a person, i.e. only a person that is born from his mother's womb would qualify as "spilling blood", the being here was created by Rava and not from the womb of a woman. In any case, since it has utility [i.e. it could count in the minyan] he would not have removed him from this world; thus, for sure he would not be counted in the minyan for things that are holy.
1. If R. Zeira had not killed the Golem, would we have counted it/him in the minyan?
2. How did R. Zeira know the Golem was not a human? What was his test?
3. How does the Chacham Tzvi define a human?
Cloning: Homologous Reproduction and Jewish Law (Tradition, 1998), J. David Bleich
R' Zadok maintains that the golem created by Rava must have been created for some specific purpose not disclosed by the Gemara and was destroyed by R. Zeira because of the fear that as it continued to grow it would wreak havok...Hence, argues R. Zadok, there is no evidence that an anthropoid should not be considered human.
Curiously, R. Zadok seems to accept Hakham Zevi's original contention that the anthropoid is not only human but also a Jew because the anthropoid was created by a righteous Jew. Nevertheless, R. Zadok maintains the anthropoid is not endowed with a soul and hence is neither rewarded nor punished in the afterlife...
...The anthropoid, however, contends R. Zadok, is created "as a mature man," and therefore it should be assumed that he is endowed with reason in a manner comparable to an adults. In the case of an anthropoid, lack of speech, asserts R. Zadok, is to be attributed to the fact that it lacks "a portion of God from above." R. Zadok attributes the source of speech to the divine power breathed into Adam....
Cloning: Homologous Reproduction and Jewish Law (Tradition, 1998), J. David Bleich
It is rather evident that there are four distinct views with regard to the status of a golem:
(1) Hesed le-Avraham, She'ilat Ya'avez, and possibly Hakham Zevi, maintain that its status is identical to that of a brute animal;
(2) R. Zadok ha-Kohen maintains that it is human in every sense;
(3) Maharsha and R. Gershon Leiner maintain that only an anthropoid endowed with speech is human;
(4) Zofnat Pa'aneah maintains that an anthropoid does not at all have the status of a living creature
Ma Adam Va-Teda-Ehu: Halakhik Criteria for Defining Human Beings, Tradition 2003, Dr. John. Loije and Rabbi Moshe D. Tendler
We propose that according to halakha a human being must possess at least one of the following three characteristics:
1) having been formed within or born from a human,
2) expressing moral intellgence,
3) being capable of producing offspring with a human.
Part 2. Designing Humans: How are humans different than animals? angels?
1. How do the texts describe the creation of animals and humans differently? How are they similar?
2. What do these differences mean?
3. What is the role of human? What is human's unique qualities?
Part 3. Interpretations on Human Uniqueness
A) Speech
(7) לנפש חיה A LIVING SOUL — Also cattle and beasts are referred as "living soul" but the "living soul" נפש of man is the most highly developed of all of them, because to him was granted understanding and speech.
B) Intelligence
(ד) וכאשר יוחד האדם בענין שהוא זר בו מאוד מה שאין כן בדבר מן הנמצאות מתחת גלגל הירח - והוא ההשגה השכלית - אשר לא ישתמש בה חוש ולא מעשה גוף ולא יד ולא רגל - דימה אותה בהשגת האלוק אשר אינה בכלי (ואם אינו דמיון באמת אבל לנראה מן הדעת תחילה). ונאמר באדם מפני זה הענין - רצוני לומר מפני השכל האלוקי המדובק בו - שהוא ב'צלם אלוקים ובדמותו' - לא שהאלוה ית' גוף שיהיה בעל תמונה
(4) As man's distinction consists in a property which no other creature on earth possesses, viz., intellectual perception, in the exercise of which he does not employ his senses, nor move his hand or his foot, this perception has been compared--though only apparently, not in truth--to the Divine perception, which requires no corporeal organ. On this account, i.e., on account of the Divine intellect with which man has been endowed, he is said to have been made in the form and likeness of the Almighty, but far from it be the notion that the Supreme Being is corporeal, having a material form.
(א) 'נפש' - שם משותף. הוא שם הנפש החיה הכוללת לכל מרגיש "אשר בו נפש חיה"... והוא גם כן שם הנפש המדברת - כלומר צורת האדם "חי ה' אשר עשה לנו את הנפש הזאת". והוא שם הדבר הנשאר מן האדם אחר המות "והיתה נפש אדוני צרורה בצרור החיים". והוא שם הרצון "לאסור שריו בנפשו" - כלומר ברצונו; וכמוהו "ואל תתנהו בנפש אויביו" - כלומר אל תסגירהו לרצונם;
(1) THE Hebrew nefesh (soul) is a homonymous[ambiguous] noun, (1) signifying the vitality which is common to all living, sentient beings...(2)Another signification of the term is "reason," that is, the distinguishing characteristic of man, as in "As the Lord liveth that made us this soul" (Jer. 38:16). (3) It denotes also the part of man that remains after his death (nefesh, soul) comp... (4) Lastly, it denotes "will"; ...and according to my opinion, it has this meaning also in the following passages...
שהוא עצם שכלי ונצחי ובזה פתח האל ית' פתח בתורתו לקנות ידיעה בעצמים הנבדלים בידיעת נפשנו:
C) Morality
(כב) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ ה' אֱלֹקִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע
(22) And the LORD God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad...
(כב) היה כאחד ממנו הֲרֵי הוּא יָחִיד בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים כְּמוֹ שֶׁאֲנִי יָחִיד בָּעֶלְיוֹנִים, וּמַה הִיא יְחִידוּתוֹ? לָדַעַת טוֹב וָרָע, מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בִּבְהֵמָה וְחַיָּה
(22) היה כאחד ממנו IS BECOME LIKE ONE OF US (or, like the Being who is One, Unique amongst us) — Lo, he is unique among the terrestrial ones, even as I am unique among the celestial ones. And in what does his uniqueness consist? In knowing good and evil, which is not so in the case of cattle and beasts (Genesis Rabbah 21:5).
D. Dominion
(ד) כדמותנו כדמות המלאכים ויועיל לו מה שנברא בדמות, לרדות בדגת הים ובעוף וגו'... בצלמנו כדמותנו פי׳ בגוונינו כמו שאני שליט עליכם, כן יהיה הוא שליט על כל התחתונים.
(4) כדמותנו, “like the image of the angels.”This comparison of the human species to that of angels is going to stand man in good stead when exercising his authority (superiority) over all the other creatures on earth G-d had created...The common denominator between G-d and man on the one hand, and man and beast on the other, is that just as G-d is our ruler, so we rule over the other creatures in the universe.
E) Free Will
(ד) כדמותנו בענין המעשיות שידמה בם קצת לפמליא של מעלה בצד מה שהם פועלים בידיעה ובהכרה. אמנם פעולתם היא בלתי בחיריית ובזה לא ידמה להם האדם.
(4) כדמותנו, acting intelligently like the angels, though from free choice, not like the angels who act under Divine compulsion.
F) Divine/Spiritual Uniqueness
(ז) ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים נפש חיונית מוכנת לקבל צלם אלקים... מ''מ ויהי האדם לנפש חיה. היה עכ''ז חיה בלבד בלתי מדברת עד שנברא בצלם ודמות:
(7) "God blew into his nostrils the breath of life": G’d personally blew a soul of life into man, a life force which had been readied to absorb what was previously called צלם אלוקים, “the image of G’d.” ..."And man became a living being", man had remained a living creature (similar to the animals) until You equipped him with a divine-like tzelem and demut.
(א) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם נתייחד בעשיית האדם מאמר בעבור גודל מעלתו כי אין טבעו כטבע החיה והבהמה אשר ברא במאמר הקודם לו... ואמר "בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ" כי ידמה לשניהם במתכונת גופו לארץ אשר לוקח ממנה וידמה ברוח לעליונים שאינה גוף ולא תמות ואמר בכתוב השני בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ (פסוק כז) לספר הפלא אשר נפלא בו משאר הנבראים
וזה פשט המקרא הזה מצאתיו לרבי יוסף הקמחי והוא הנראה מכל מה שחשבו בו ופירוש "צֶלֶם" כמו תאר... תאר מראיתו ו"דמות" הוא דמיון בצורה ובמעשה כי הקרובים בענין יקראו דומים זה לזה והנה האדם דומה לתחתונים ולעליונים בתאר והדר כדכתיב (תהלים ח ו) וְכָבוֹד וְהָדָר תְּעַטְּרֵהוּ והוא מגמת פניו בחכמה ובדעת וכשרון המעשה ובדמות ממש שידמה גופו לעפר ונפשו לעליונים
(1) And God said, "Let us make man:" A [separate] proclamation was designated for the creation of man, because of his stature - since his nature is not like the nature of animals and beasts that He created in the proclamation that precedes it...
And it stated, "in our image, in our likeness," since he would be similar to both of them: in the configuration of his body, to the earth from which he was taken; and he would resemble the higher ones in his soul, which is not a body and does not die. And the second verse (27) states, "in the image of God did He create him," to tell of the wonder which separates him from all the creatures.
And this simple explanation of the verse I found from Rabbi Yosef Kimchi and it is the most plausible of all that have been thought. And the explanation of [the word,] image (tselem), is like an appearance... [meaning] the description of what he looked like. And likeness (demut) [means] similarity in form or action; such that [things] that share a resemblance in a matter are called likenesses of each other. And behold man is similar to the lower beings and the upper beings in [his] appearance and his glory. As it is written (Psalms 8:6), "and with honor and glory have you crowned him" [concerning his resemblance to the upper beings], and this refers to the direction of his countenance towards wisdom and knowledge and skilled action. And in his likeness, his body completely resembles the dirt, and his soul, the upper creatures.
Part 4: Modern Technologies (revisited): Computers are smart? Or not.
Deep Neural Networks are Easily Fooled: High Confidence Predictions for Unrecognizable Images (Nguyen, Anh, Jason Yosinski, and Jeff Clune. CVPR 2015)
References:
http://www.bvkkosher.com/robots-in-halacha
https://azjewishpost.com/2014/should-robots-count-in-a-minyan-rabbi-talks-turing-test/
Bleich, J. David. "Survey of Recent Halakhic Periodical Literature: CLONING: HOMOLOGOUS REPRODUCTION AND JEWISH LAW." Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 32.3 (1998): 47-86.
This shiur was presented on Tuesday, September 18th at Open Beit Midrash in Cambridge, MA.