Faith leaders

Ephraim Mirvis

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

3 records

Portrait source: Brian Minkoff- London Pixels, CC BY-SA 4.0

Records

If AI is already finding application in military technology, the decision to take another person’s life might one day be made by a computer.

Ephraim Mirvis

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

In remarks published by his office in 2019, Ephraim Mirvis said military uses of AI could one day let a computer decide to take a person's life.

Chief RabbiPublished March 25, 2019 · date of remarks not establishedOffice of the Chief Rabbi

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Context and checks

Surrounding words

If many of the world’s major financial systems already rely on Artificial Intelligence, it is likely that such a system could one day have major financial repercussions for billions of people. If AI is already finding application in military technology, the decision to take another person’s life might one day be made by a computer. The development of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be the source of enormous blessing to our world by augmenting human capacity, and not by replacing it.

What this quote does not say

The Office of the Chief Rabbi page is dated March 25, 2019 and says Mirvis spoke on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, but it does not state the broadcast date; the date is therefore publication-only and the linked audio was not audited.
Mirvis framed the lethal-decision passage as a possible future outcome, not as an existing autonomous weapon or an extinction risk.

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But the central imperative is clear: this extraordinary technology must be harnessed to serve us, rather than the reverse. It is therefore essential that these questions are discussed openly and transparently by governments and ethicists across the world rather than behind the closed doors of private corporations.

Ephraim Mirvis

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

In remarks published by his office in 2019, Ephraim Mirvis called for AI to serve people and for governments and ethicists worldwide to discuss its ethical questions openly rather than leave them to private companies.

Chief RabbiPublished March 25, 2019 · date of remarks not establishedOffice of the Chief Rabbi

Source Archived

Context and checks

Surrounding words

The development of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be the source of enormous blessing to our world by augmenting human capacity, and not by replacing it. But the central imperative is clear: this extraordinary technology must be harnessed to serve us, rather than the reverse. It is therefore essential that these questions are discussed openly and transparently by governments and ethicists across the world rather than behind the closed doors of private corporations. Eliezer Yudkowsky, founder of the Machine Intelligence Research Unit in California and passionate advocate of the benefits of AI, put it like this: “By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people might conclude too

What this quote does not say

The Office of the Chief Rabbi page is dated March 25, 2019 and says Mirvis spoke on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, but it does not state the broadcast date; the date is therefore publication-only and the linked audio was not audited.
The phrase about technology serving people supports human direction and open governance but not a technical loss-of-control scenario, so that risk classification was removed.

How this was checked

Quote matched character-for-character against the captured page.

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an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check

The development of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be the source of enormous blessing to our world by augmenting human capacity, and not by replacing it.

Ephraim Mirvis

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

In remarks published by his office in 2019, Ephraim Mirvis said AI could greatly benefit the world by augmenting, not replacing, human abilities.

Chief RabbiPublished March 25, 2019 · date of remarks not establishedOffice of the Chief Rabbi

Source Archived

Context and checks

Surrounding words

If AI is already finding application in military technology, the decision to take another person’s life might one day be made by a computer. The development of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be the source of enormous blessing to our world by augmenting human capacity, and not by replacing it. But the central imperative is clear: this extraordinary technology must be harnessed to serve us, rather than the reverse.

What this quote does not say

The Office of the Chief Rabbi page is dated March 25, 2019 and says Mirvis spoke on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, but it does not state the broadcast date; the date is therefore publication-only and the linked audio was not audited.
This positive qualification sits within remarks raising concerns about AI making moral choices, financial harm, lethal military decisions, private corporate control and inadequate transparency; it is not a dismissal of AI risk.

How this was checked

Quote matched character-for-character against the captured page.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check