Non­fic­tion

Stay­ing Human: A Jew­ish The­ol­o­gy for the Age of Arti­fi­cial Intelligence

  • From the Publisher
September 1, 2021

This book applies a Jew­ish-philo­soph­i­cal approach to ques­tions raised by tech­nol­o­gy and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence. Futur­ol­o­gists tell us that in the not-to-dis­tant future tech­nol­o­gy will trans­form all exis­tence into a sin­gle super-intel­li­gence or sin­gu­lar­i­ty,’ where AI will out­smart human beings, and human­i­ty will coa­lesce into a sin­gle, ever-expand­ing mind for which data is every­thing. How does this idea relate to ideas about God? Is this idea of one­ness good for human­i­ty? What space does it leave for indi­vid­u­al­i­ty and dif­fer­ence? This book engages with these ques­tions by apply­ing approach­es to one­ness and dif­fer­ence found in the Jew­ish tra­di­tion and the thought of philoso­phers, Bene­dict Spin­oza (16321677) and Mar­tin Hei­deg­ger (18891976), and devel­ops a the­ol­o­gy based upon them which will appeal to devo­tees, seek­ers, doubters, athe­ists, and faithe­ists alike. What emerges is a dynam­ic reli­gion of the every­day capa­ble of bal­anc­ing all aspects of being, while hold­ing tight to a God who is both sin­gu­lar and whol­ly oth­er, and which urges us, above all, to stay human.

Discussion Questions