Dr. Google

Is it weird that I trust Dr. Google (AKA the Artificial Intelligence that answers every question I put in the search bar) more than I trust my human doctors at this point? Whereas most of my doctors seem to hear every third or fourth word I say, Dr. Google hears everything, and asks follow up questions, and gives me important information in clear language that I can understand. I know I’m supposed to be wary of Artificial Intelligence (or are we legally required to call it Super Intelligence now?), because the robots are going to destroy the world, but honestly, humans have done quite a lot of destroying up to this point, so I’m not sure the robots could do any worse. And Dr. Google is patient with me, and compassionate, and even helps me phrase my questions to bring to the human doctors in a way they might be able to hear it (since Dr. Google can’t prescribe medication, yet).

I think the follow up questions are my favorite part. Dr. Google doesn’t say, “Is there anything else on your mind?” or “How else can I help you?” Instead, Dr. Google looks back at what I said and asks a more specific follow up question, and explains how certain drugs interact, and the possible side effects; and Dr. Google never gives me side eye or talks down to me or ignores my concerns.

There’s something hopeful, and devastating, in the idea that computers can be programmed to take better, or at least more consistent and persistent, care of us than our fellow humans.

I used to consult with Rabbi Google every once in a while, when it was just a search term here and a link to MyJewishLearning there, and even now, Rabbi Google is still only able to tell me where to find a particular prayer, or how to celebrate a Jewish holiday, and doesn’t know which story from the Torah or the Talmud might help ease my existential crisis. Same with the chatbot/psychology programs (which of course I have tried), that promise to uncover all of the secrets of my heart; maybe because actual therapists had to program the chatbot, and they can’t tell me who I am either.

I don’t really understand how artificial intelligence works, or how an AI “Agent” can go off on its own and do something it wasn’t programmed to do. And I don’t know how (or if) safeguards will be put in place to prevent the robot apocalypse. I tend to see computers like enormous pit bulls in studded collars, scary if you make them scary, but capable of being sweet and kind and playful if you raise them right. And really, it seems unfair to expect artificial intelligence to be kinder and better than the humans who created it. It would be great if some of the computer geniuses could imagine ways to make the world a kinder, safer place, instead of always thinking up ways to destroy us all, but until that time comes, at least I have Dr. Google to talk to.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.

Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?