Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Genesis, Genetics, and AI
Around the world, more and more people are worried that artificial intelligence (AI) will render vast swaths of humanity unemployed. As Jews once again start the annual Bible cycle reading with Breishit (Genesis), these first bible chapters offer a clue as to where we might be headed, and why.
The story is familiar to all. Despite God’s admonition against eating from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve consume the fruit (not an “apple”!), and as punishment they are banished from the Garden of Eden. The real punishment is that humankind would henceforth have to work Eden where all sustenance was ripe for simply picking.
So, humankind started on the road of history of our own making – full of economic struggle but also involving technology and culture, and (unfortunately due to both) warfare. Nevertheless, despite huge ups and downs, the historical record is one of long-term advancement: more people are healthier, have better lives, and live far longer.
How and why did we succeed? The answer was there from the start: by eating (perhaps physically; certainly figuratively) from the Tree of Knowledge, we have strived, quite successfully, to increase our knowledge – that in turn was put to use in developing science, technology, and other social “tools” for increased survival and improved lifestyle. And a major consequence of this was a very significant reduction in the amount of time spent on “work.” From the 14-hour workday (at least six days a week), humanity’s lot from time immemorial until the late 19th century, we are now down (in the world’s advanced countries) to 7 or 8-hour workdays, only five days a week (some countries have started to experiment with four-day work weeks), and counting down.
Put another way, human history has been one long and gradually successful attempt to return us back to the “Garden of Eden,” a world in which we don’t have to work to live. Is this a second transgression against God’s will? The bible is somewhat ambiguous on the question as to whether this punishment is “forever” for humanity as a whole, or merely for Adam and Eve, the individuals who sinned: (Genesis 3, 19) “In the sweat of your brow will you eat bread, until you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken; for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.” The words “Mankind” or “Forever” do not appear here. And as Judaism (at least) does not accept the concept of “Original Sin” (i.e., we don’t continue to carry the sin of our forebears), it is not a stretch to argue that this was a punishment for Adam and Eve exclusively. Any attempt by the human race to return to a life of leisure (no need to work), does not undermine God’s plan.
AI is the next tool along this path, and together with robotics has the potential to banish human work altogether – finally returning us to a future “Garden of Eden.” What we as humans will do in such an “idyllic” world is another matter, not without its serious challenges and questions. But it need not be intrinsically “bad” or “wrong” if we learn how to adapt to our new “lifestyle.”
However, this is not the whole story. Readers of Genesis tend to overlook the fact that there were two trees: Knowledge and also Life. The biblical commentators point out that had Adam & Eve not been evicted from the Garden of Eden, they would have remained immortal. Unsurprisingly, here too humanity has made strides in that direction. Although we are still far from extending our lifespan well beyond a century, genetic engineering holds the promise of eventually doing just that. After all, if we managed to almost double our lifespan in the past century alone – with relatively “primitive” medical tools – it is not far-fetched to imagine far more sophisticated bio-medical technologies further increasing lifespans significantly, and perhaps even moving us close to being relatively “immortal.” Here too, the ethical challenges and social questions are fraught with uncertainties, but the attempt in and of itself cannot be considered “wrong.”
In short, Genesis represents not only the beginning of human history; it holds within it the “promise” of “The End of History” as well. The Bible’s origin story does not merely present the foundation of human endeavor but might well also constitute the road map for where we are headed (back).
