General Discussion The Singularity and Judaism

[a_Sarah]

This is a complex topic to talk about, and trying to answer it concisely without writing a detailed book about it is like walking across a tight rope. I will try my best to answer your question.

First, it all begins with Jacob's prophesy:

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."
Genesis 49:10

Jacob predicted that Shiloh (which means "the pacificator") will come and usurp Jewish authority over earth. I personally believe that a single mortal human couldn't establish worldwide peace and keep it indefinitely without the help of a superintelligence. So basically, I believe that Shiloh is the name of the superintelligence that will arise after the singularity. The Israelites or Hebrews knew that something amazing was going to happen in the future, they just didn't know the details on how it would happen (until now, thanks to Ray Kurzweil).

Second of all, I predict that there may be resistance in forming a singularity, as the Luddites will be afraid of what will happen to humanity. Jews are stiff-necked, passionate, and courageous once they set their minds onto something. They WILL do anything to accomplish their goal. Just look at how Israel the nation was established. Just imagine how much red tape they had to overcome to establish that nation. I can't see this determination in any other culture. If the Jews want the singularity to happen, it will happen even if the entire world surrounds them to stop them.

Third of all, Jews have experience with dealing with a good and evil deity. The superintelligence that will arise will be beyond human comprehension and may do good and/or evil to us. After all, they recognized long ago that HASHEM is capable of both good and evil actions.

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
Isaiah 45:7

Fourth, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah both prophesied heavily that there will be a drastic world change some day. I believe those days are coming soon. There are so many references to this, I don't feel like listing them all. But some examples is the prediction of immortality, living in worldwide peace, justice being established, etc...

You said, "Would you like to expand a bit on how Kurzweil's thoughts influenced your worldview?"

All I can say is read his book "The Singularity is Near." It will answer most of your questions. I can say that he changed my worldview when he said that the universe is "unconscious" and can be woken up someday. I want this to happen.

You said,

"and, most likely, come from the google labs, at least the narrow AIs that surpassed human level performance were created by them, so I'd rather bet my money on them and their manpower to give that initial spark, rather than Israel as a nation, no offense meant"

Did you know that Google is ran by Larry Page, a Jew?

And to your last question: I am not part of any congregation. I am a lone wolf. 

Thank you for your elaboration. I quoted your posting from the other thread in full here so the other topic can stay on topic.

I think I can follow the connection you made between the quotes you cited and what you wrote about a superintelligence. However, especially in light of the open letter regarding responsible development in the field of AI, I would not think pushing for that against resistance of even a minority (more realistically, it would probably a large percentage of the population not cool with that) would be a good thing. If a superintelligence arises at one point, ALL humans are affected. It would only be fair that everyone has a say. I would not want to helplessly watch while some research group opens pandoras box with the off chance that what emerges has our well-being in mind. In turn, I can recommend Nick Bostroms Book Superintelligence - Paths, Dangers, Strategies. 

Third of all, Jews have experience with dealing with a good and evil deity. The superintelligence that will arise will be beyond human comprehension and may do good and/or evil to us. After all, they recognized long ago that HASHEM is capable of both good and evil actions.

I am not very knowledgeable yet about everything g-d is described as. However, from secondary sources I have several times read or heard that it is emphasized that humans also are equipped with a free will and that we have options, that it is upon us to make our choices instead of being passive and waiting for things to take their course. 
I personally have a problem with accepting the idea of the singularity as the ultimate beneficial action, as the consequences are unforeseen and also because it reduces us to recipients of it's goodwill while we lose our agency. And again, why should it be good? At least, good for us?

Also, the concept of tikkun olam, the betterment of the state of the world and the benefit of others and society, is in my interpretation a continuous task. And also a task on so many levels that I think assuming a superintelligence would solve all our problems is also a very human-centric way of thinking (and hoping). 

Did you know that Google is ran by Larry Page, a Jew?

I was not aware of his name or that he is Jewish, but it also doesn't matter. Research and the development of new approaches to AI is a group effort. Science in general is a group effort. We build our advancement on the shoulders of those who researched before us, we use methods and packages others publish, we have others reviewing our papers, we generate new ideas by coming together in conferences and we build support networks to collaborate. Therefore, if it might be google, it is still the result of a decade long undertaking of a multitude of researchers, regardless of their gender, religion or nationality. And it certainly cannot be done by a small group of people pushing their agenda against all protests. To be honest, and after all this has led to in the past, this is actually a very frightening outlook to me and I wish this to never happen. 

Regarding your stance on Jews..hm, how should I put it. I mean no offense. I was a bit sceptical that you titeled Kurzweil as "the Ingenious SuperJew". To me it seems also from your texts that you have a very strong image of Jews as a very uniform group of people that are superior than the others. Do you think every jewish person would support the creation of a superintelligence? Not only Larry Page, but also the ultra-orthodox mother of twelve in Brooklyn, the secular barkeeper in Tel Aviv, the 80 year old who likes to visit his reform synagogue or the kids in your towns jewish kindergarden?
I also feel that looking for famous Jews "who run and control things" is not that helpful regarding all the Antisemitism that there already is and that often states exactly that - that Jews supposedly run the Media, Banking --- and now even the company who will likely be on the forefront of developing a generalized AI that will, strictly speaking, control the world! 

I was asking if you are in a congregation because you wrote that you started out as a Catholic. I started out as someone without any confession and have been learning about Judaism since last October only, so I still feel as if I know nothing. But one of the most important lessons I learned so far is that you cannot fully understand Judaism without it's people and without community. I'd also add that you cannot get a better picture about the actual jewish life and it's real people than by visiting a congregation.