Torah Meets ChatGPT: Rabbi Farhi Says AI Could Revolutionize Yeshiva Learning | WATCH
Rabbi Yosef Farhi reflects on the rise of AI in religious life, questioning its role in Torah learning, creativity, and leadership while arguing it is a powerful tool, but one that can never replace human free will or spiritual responsibility.
Did Yaakov Shwekey use AI in his last four videos that he just made? Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference. If he isn't using AI, then I think he's missing out. Every rabbi, therapist, coach, and writer who's not using AI is missing out. Every article I write, I use AI. The abilities we have today are fantastic, and we can amplify them with AI. I'm hoping for the day to come soon, think about how many boys in yeshiva have no chavrusa, no study partner who really works for them. Imagine they get an AI chavrusa they could talk to about the Gemara, work through the learning with, and have it challenge them back. AI is one of the most fantastic things that Hashem has allowed us to create since the beginning of time. It's a gift, if you use it right.
And if you ask the question, so then why do we need artists? Why do we need rabbis? Let's just rely on AI alone, the answer is that AI is just a large language model. What's irreplaceable about you is your free choice. AI doesn't have the power to choose. You have the power to choose what's correct and what's not, what your soul is, what your ruach is. That's your choice, and nobody can take that away from you.
In this week's parshah (and yes, I'll be making a video about this too, with AI's help) we see exactly this concept. Moshe Rabbeinu feels he can't manage the people alone, and Hashem tells him to take some of the elders and share his spirit with them. Rashi explains that even though Moshe is now going to have a team of people prophesying alongside him, it doesn't diminish his greatness in the slightest. It's like a candle on a table, anyone who comes and lights their candle from it doesn't take anything away from the original flame. The other leaders are simply an extension of Moshe Rabbeinu. And the key is: it was his choice who to bring onto the team.
It's funny, Hashem can give you the biggest present. He can give you the most delicious mann, and it can taste like the most delicious steak. And you say, "No, I want the real steak. You know why? Because I like suffering in the heat of the barbecue. I like the smoke in my lungs. I like the whole shlep." Hashem is saying: you don't have to suffer. Here's mann, make it taste however you want. But people will still find something to complain about. Some people will complain no matter what gift God gives them.
Of course, a person shouldn't ask AI questions and rely on the answers when it comes to health issues or halachic questions. You need a doctor. You need a rav. And the same is true as a writer, never rely on AI alone. But it has really good suggestions. It's just a suggestion. You can take it and use it, or you can decide not to.
But why hate it? Some of my best articles, I used AI. Some of my best coaching sessions, where I saved couples, I used AI. It's not always easy to use. You might have to pay for a higher subscription to access a smarter model. You might have to learn how to use it properly. But if you're not using it, you're not adapting to the new world, and you will fall behind. A singer, a rabbi, someone running an office who's not using AI isn't more pure, he just won't be able to keep up.
People ask me how I make a video every single day. It's very simple. I take an article I've written, put it into AI, and ask how I can turn it into a video that reflects what I'm seeing in the people I work with, what people are actually dealing with today.
If I see a beautiful dvar Torah somewhere and I think, I wish I could take this and make it my style, make it self-help oriented, I just take a picture of it, put it into Google Translate or an OCR tool, and it pulls the text off the page into digital form. Then I drop that into Claude or ChatGPT, and it comes up with the most amazing angles I can use to build a video. I don't take it word for word. I take the ideas. It gives you something to think about, something to say.
But AI will never replace us. It can't make decisions the way we can. It can't replace our choices about what we want to use it for. The guilt a human feels when he makes a mistake - AI will never replicate that. AI doesn't have a moment when its life is over, doesn't have to live up to a certain responsibility, doesn't have to look back on its journey and feel what it means to live in a world where you don't know when it's going to end. Hashem gives you a gift. Don't throw it away.