AI & Halacha: On Transparency and Accountability [AI 4/4]

Update: 2025-11-18

Description

This series is sponsored by American Security Foundation.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, Rabbi Gil Student speaks with Rabbi Aryeh Klapper and Sofer.ai CEO Zach Fish about how AI is reshaping questions of Jewish practice.

As AI simulates more and more human activities, we can’t help but wonder: Will AI replace rabbis? In this episode we discuss:

—What happens when centuries of halachic process meet a radically new technology?
—Can AI responsibly or accurately answer halachic questions?
—What are the ethical responsibilities of those who build and deploy AI?

Tune in for a conversation about the possibilities and limits of our digital tools.

Panel begins at 8:36 .

Rabbi Gil Student is the director of Jewish media publications and editorial communications at the Orthodox Union.

Rabbi Aryeh Klapper is the dean of the Center for Modern Torah Leadership, the author of Divine Will and Human Experience, and a frequent writer on the ethical dimensions of Jewish law.

Zach Fish is the creator of Sofer.ai, a cutting-edge transcription service designed for the Jewish community.

References:

“Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy” by Haym Soloveitchik

David Bashevkin on Rabbis

Articles of Faith: Traditional Jewish Belief in the Internet Era by Gil Student

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

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