Shavuot

Man Hath No Advantage Over Machine? On the Existentialist Implications of Generative AI

Generative AI has taken the world by storm. Creating art, literature, music as well as engaging in fluid conversation, the artificial intelligence of today is simply astounding. Indeed, AI has since humbled us. It is causing us to question what exactly is our unique worth. To paraphrase king Solomon: “Man hath no advantage over machine; for all is vanity.” In this lecture I hope to convince you that man indeed has an advantage over machine.

Seventy: A Complete Diversity

Diversity is the watchword of our current milieu. Unfortunately, it has taken on the very restricted sense of being inclusive of minorities, etc.. While inclusiveness is an important value, the great power of diversity lies not merely in acceptance of the other but in learning from the other. In this shiur I dicuss the value of diversity as expressed in the number seventy.

The Moral Status of a Humanoid

How are we to interact with mindless AI – robots, chatbots, virtual “people” online? The amswer, I suggest, is not found in the halls of academia but in the private quarters of a Canaanite slave.

Maimonides on Human Perfection

Maimonides, Virtue Ethics, Deontological Ethics, Slavery, Parshat Noah, Ethical Perfection, Intellectual Perfection, Halacha and Philosophy, Shavuot

The Last Eight Verses

Moses v Joshua, Torah Min Hashamayim, Parshat Vezot Habracha, Simchat Torah, Shavuot