On One Foot
RABBI DANIEL NEVINS, HALAKHIC RESPONSES TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTONOMOUS MACHINES (2019) When we say that machines are functioning autonomously, currently we mean this in a very limited sense. Machines are given a task and the capacity to complete the task within certain parameters, usually by fol- lowing algorithms built on a series of predetermined “if … then” rules. They are not capable of establishing independent goals or refusing to act on orders that fall within their operational parameters. Nor are they accorded legal personhood, no matter how personal people may get in conversations with virtual assistants. Just as it would be absurd to punish a courtyard for “stealing” a goat, so would it be absurd to whip an autonomous vehicle in punishment for “murdering” a pedestrian. Legal standing and free will are essential components to moral stature and liability. At this stage, artificial intelligence functions like a tool, and so moral liability must remain with the principal. Or perhaps the machine is more like an animal, in which case its owner is responsible to a greater or lesser extent depending on typical performance. In any event, the machine is not obligated ( בר חיובא ), as Ravina puts it, nor does it have free will ( דאי בעי עביד ), as Rav Sama emphasizes. Without these capacities, liability remains with the principal who appointed the agent—the person, not the machine. 4 4 WHILE THIS RESPONSA, which was adopted by the Conservative movement, is six years old—several life- times for AI—it addresses many broad implications of AI for Judaism. In particular, it runs through a series of questions that help us understand what it would look like for a chatbot to become a viable guide to Jewish thought. One crucial element of reaching such a state: taking responsibility for interpretations of Jewish law that a chatbot issues. Rabbis who offer guidance on Jewish matters know the weight of responsibility that comes with offering an answer or solution: they bear responsibility if they make a mistake in reasoning, causing someone else to behave improperly. If chatbots are ever to be viable alternatives, then rabbis must have a hand in training them; there needs to be an autonomous human who ultimately bears responsibility for any advice that is offered.
Borgmann makes a distinction be- tween “focal things” and “devices.” A wood-burning stove is a focal thing: it requires skill and bodily engagement through woodcutting, seasoning wood, and fire building. This thing exists within a context of forest, home, family, and communi- ty. It leads to social engagement and focus as multiple people contribute to the process... A device stands in stark contrast to a focal thing. Devices make no de- mands of skill, strength, or attention. Devices provide commodities for enjoyment without encumbrance or context. The lack of encumbrance makes the commodious consump- tion of devices thoughtless and dis-
posable. Technological devices pro- duce a commodity without burden- ing us in any way. Devices are quick, easy, foolproof, and safe. A furnace or central-heating system is a device. These devices provide warmth with- out any demand from the recipient. ChatGPT is also an example of a device. This device provides a commodity—summaries, essays, answers—without any skill, prepa- ration, or demand on the user. Things require skilled and ac- tive human engagement; devices require no focus, engagement, or context. Things require practice; devices invite consumption. Things constitute commanding reality; de- vices procure disposable reality. 5
A. TREVOR SUTTON, “AI AND THE DISCIPLINE OF HUMAN FLOURISHING,” RELIGION & LIBERTY 34:1 (2024) Long before the advent of gener- ative AI, [recently deceased phi- losopher of technology] Albert Borgmann...in his book Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life ...argued that technology has shaped contemporary life around its peculiar pattern. Borgmann sug- gested that the pattern of technology becomes particularly harmful when there are no means by which one can “prune back the excesses of technolo- gy and restrict it to a supporting role.”
30 WINTER 2025/2026
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