Like Silicon from Clay

What Ancient Jewish Wisdom Can Teach Us about AI

Michael M Rosen

$56.95 $48.61

Hardback

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English

AEI Press
04 March 2025

Judaism; Judaism: mysticism; Ancient religions & mythologies; Inventions & inventors; Automatic control engineering

How can we reconcile competing claims about artificial intelligence in today's policy debate? Will AI herald a technological utopia filled with scientific breakthroughs that extend and enhance life, or will the machines we create turn on us and usher in the apocalypse? Will chatbots stifle creativity and crush the human spirit, or are they just reflections of ourselves, for better or worse? As we grapple with these questions, technologists, philosophers, entrepreneurs, writers, artists, and elected officials have espoused approaches to AI advances that appear fundamentally at odds with each other.

In this penetrating analysis of contemporary thought on AI, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Michael M. Rosen identifies and elucidates the arguments around allowing AI an increasing presence in our lives. More importantly, he posits that centuries of Jewish mythology hold important lessons about our relationship with technology: from the ""golems"" communal Jewish leaders purported to fashion from clay and imbue with the power to serve the greater good-at least, until those golems ran amok and wrought destruction-to the evil spirits called ""dybbuks"" that Jewish communities believe possess people and require exorcism, to their friendly cousin spirits called ""maggids"" that inspire the heights of human creative expression.

Rosen explains how these legends enabled humans of old to understand themselves-and their creations. And he applies the legends' lessons to the contemporary AI policy debate, presenting both general and specific recommendations for how to harness the power of our machines while curbing their darker possibilities. Ultimately, he argues that, while the technological present is evolving at breakneck speed, we must take a moment to reflect on how our past can inform our future.

By: Michael M Rosen
Imprint: AEI Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 27mm
Weight: 748g
ISBN: 9780844750842
ISBN 10: 0844750840
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 04 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael M. Rosen is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in intellectual property issues in the field of technology. A practicing trial attorney, he is the founder and principal of Rosen Technology Law. He joined Irell & Manella as counsel in 2022.