Joe Bradford

Consider the process of teaching someone to cook rice. You wouldn’t initially throw them into a deep discussion about the variations among Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin, right? That would be like tossing them into a whirlpool of confusion. Instead, the initial focus should be on the essentials: how to proportion the rice and water, when to adjust the heat to a simmer, and the signs of perfectly cooked rice. The intricate understanding of temperature scales is a knowledge layer that can be added later once the basic practicalities are mastered.

Along these lines, Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi, in the fourth introduction of Al-Muwafaqat, stated:

Recently someone presented to me the opinion or the assumption that it’s not forbidden to pay interest, it’s only forbidden to take interest claiming that there’s nothing in the Quran. That would indicate that it’s forbidden to pay interest. I wanted to take a moment and address this issue because I think it’s something that all of you should be concerned about.

Before we talk about the problem of creating Strong AI, let’s talk about how Islamic law categorizes rulings. While Yonatan  presents this as an issue of encouragement vs. prohibition, Islamic Law offers a few other choices. Laws falls under one of five categories: Obligatory, Encouraged, Unrestricted, Discouraged, and Forbidden. Creating strong AI may fall under any of these five.