AI and the Worst Day of Your Life
Years ago, I attempted to become a rabbi. Three days into the rabbinical program, I realized hosting bar mitzvahs and debating 5,000+ year-old texts was not what I was cut out to do. Pretty sure I set the record for the fastest rabbinical school drop out. My professors weren’t surprised; one went as far as to comment, “You cursed G_d far too much to be a paid spokesperson for Him down here on earth.”
During my short-lived journey towards the rabbinate, I recall a particularly interesting discussion we had regarding “what makes us human”. Our world is filled with creations that you and I did not make - people, animals, birds, plants, the ocean, the mountains, the stars. What makes us different from these creations? How are humans unique? What are we tasked with doing that other creations are not? Acting purely on animal instincts makes us no different than the animals that surround us. In what ways should we strive to be different?
As the discussion around AI and its extensive automation gains more momentum, I find myself reflecting on that seminary discussion.
Yes, AI can analyze data faster than you or I.
Yes, it can write at record-setting speeds.
Yes, it can compute advanced math problems in mere seconds.
Some project that AI will eliminate many white-collar jobs. Others speculate that AI will automate many blue-collar positions. Most people are a little wary of how AI might disrupt their professional future.
While AI might automate repetitive workflows, it won’t replace humans because our humanity is not replicable at scale. Being human is a unique experience - one that requires us to balance animal-like instincts with a higher consciousness and spiritual connection that continually draws us to things beyond our mere immediate gratification.
AI may make it easier to produce organizational communications, synchronize event logistics, or keep a house organized; however, it consistently fails to replicate the very things that make us humans - different from other creations.
Here are a few things that AI does not replace, reflective of our collective humanity:
Character, Ethics, Morality
Empathy
Discipline
Inspiration
Leadership
Meaning and Purpose
Think back to the absolute worst day of your life.
I guarantee you the thing that made all the difference was not AI or any technology of that era; instead, it was some human - a person - who:
Held your hand when you found out the mass was not benign.
Swapped funny stories about the good ol’ days after you buried your dad.
Encouraged you to keep going and trying after you lost your job and had no way to make rent.
Brought casserole after casserole over to your house after you’d gotten that dreaded knock on the door.
Helped you see that all hope was not lost after heartbreak - you’d learn to love again, laugh and goof off, and eventually stop feeling like you were drowning under all that grief.
Humans - not technology - make all the difference in the world in those moments.
Recent studies revealed that one of the top uses of ChatGPT - a very popular AI program - is not to write school papers or spam your inboxes. It’s “companionship.” When people feel sad, disconnected, lonely, they are turning to technology to soothe their unmet human needs.
Technology only offers counterfeit “solutions”. It provides temporary delays to the consequences of disconnection. People need people. We don’t need digital Band-Aids for societal ills. We need real people doing people things - iron sharpening iron - to support our communities and quality of life. We were created to be connected - not to go at life alone, with the temporary refreshment from an AI-enabled platform. Call it a blessing or a curse, but humankind cannot succeed in decoupling the Creator-programmed requirement that we rely on each other.
It’s my projection that the development of more and more AI is just going to provide further verification of our interconnectedness and our responsibility as humans to engage our humanity, go beyond our own self-centered desires, and enrich society through our efforts. Anything short of such an experience will continue to leave us empty and alone.
We have a long history of exploring what it means to truly be human - of pushing the envelope, testing our theories, and taking things to the very edge. While we achieve many scientific discoveries, venturing into the unknown and the uncharted, we often return with an enlightening perspective of our own humanity and the existence of something else, much greater than ourselves.
The emergence of AI may do much more for humanity than simply optimize workflows and automate repetitive tasks. Its failures and limits remind us of something we have always known: the most defining moments in our lives are profoundly human.
No AI technology will sit beside you on the worst day of your life and help you carry the burden you feared was too heavy to bear. That is a distinctly human experience.