By Jogishwar Singh | Opinion |
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a burning topic of our days. ChatGPT recently completed a year of its existence with a drama in the media about the dismissal of its CEO, Sam Altman, followed by his rapid reinstatement following a revolt by his company staff demanding his return.
All Sikhs should be concerned about the impact of AI on Sikhi, especially on Sikh youth settled outside India who are now quite numerous. There was recently an article about Sikhi and AI in a magazine from Kolkata1, so the issue is beginning to be discussed (The Sikh Review, September 2023, Dr Devinder Pal Singh). It is divided into two sub-sections with titles: “Using AI for Promoting Sikhism” and “Overcoming the Challenges of AI”. It raises pertinent issues by first briefly explaining what AI is and what it can do. Right at the start it says, “The appropriate usage of AI can help in the promotion of Sikhism. However, awareness of the pitfalls of using AI for religious purposes is essential. So, we must use AI with caution in spiritual matters”. It goes on to say, ”While AI can provide valuable insights and resources, human guidance remains essential. Religious leaders, scholars and experts should play a central role in interpreting and contextualizing the teachings of Sikhism. …………. With the vast amounts of information available through AI-powered platforms, it becomes crucial to validate the sources and ensure the authenticity of content.” (Page 8, ibid).
These few words are key to an issue which needs much more elaboration without eliciting extremist reactions which seem to be the bane of any scholarly discussion on the issue of authentic interpretation of the message of the Sikh Gurus, a message which has become diluted over the years through deliberate misinterpretations, deliberately falsified sources, translations based on such inaccurate sources and the hijacking of Sikh institutions by persons having a vested interest in suppressing the true message of Sikh Gurus, especially that of Guru Nanak, since it weakens their hold on credulous Sikh masses.
Such a phenomenon is not unique to Sikhi. Doctrines propagated by the Roman Catholic Church already in 325 A.D. after the First Council of Nicaea were challenged by scholars who tried to show that the decisions elaborated at this Council convened by Emperor Constantine I did not reflect the true message of Jesus Christ. They cited different sources like the Gnostic Gospels from some of the earliest Christian congregations in Alexandria to contest the official doctrine being imposed on believers by the Church at the behest of the emperor.
Several centuries later, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg on October 31, 1517, which began the Protestant Reformation. Luther was not exactly the first person questioning the doctrines being preached by the Catholic Church having a Pope at its apex. He was influenced by thinkers like Desiderius Erasmus, John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Augustine of Hippo, Girolamo Savonarola, and others. Their views, crystallised by Luther through the Reformation, can be summarised in three “Solas”: Sola gratia, Sola fide and Sola scriptura, meaning by faith alone, by grace alone and by scripture alone. Luther vehemently opposed the sale of Indulgences by the Catholic Church. Indulgences were instruments sold by the Roman Catholic Church through which believers could purchase full or partial remission of the punishment of sin for their family members.
These historical precedents bear resemblance to the state of present-day Sikh institutions which are in the hands of what has evolved to be a kind of priestly privileged class, in total contradiction to what Guru Nanak and other Gurus said. Their message was a social revolutionary challenge to the caste ridden Indian society. It was and is a message of liberation and enlightenment, freeing Sikhs from the hold of rituals, superstitions, priests, pilgrimages and the rule of fear imposed by religious and political masters. Guru Nanak gave us this creed of fearlessness; Guru Gobind Singh formalised its manifestation.
Sikhi has no place for a priestly class acting as an intermediary between the Sikh and the Almighty. The message of Guru Nanak posed such a challenge to privileged classes that centuries long efforts have been made to counter it by distorting Sikhi as a kind of sect or offshoot of preceding religious beliefs in order to dilute its revolutionary character.
DISTORTIONS GALORE
Imaginary hagiographies were created in the 18th and 19th centuries to present Guru Nanak as some kind of miracle worker. A snake was supposed to have shielded his face from the sun. Similar distortions were foisted on the life of Guru Gobind Singh by making him a worshipper of Goddesses with a prior life meditating in the Himalayas. Any scholar challenging such distortions is subjected to abuse, threats of expulsion from the Panth or even physical violence.
People from other religions used such spurious sources to publish translations of the Guru Granth Sahib which have now become the sources for further study by most Sikh and non-Sikh scholars endeavouring to decipher the message of the Sikh Gurus. This is where the link to AI comes in since ChatGPT or other AI engines like Bing provide information based on such published sources. Scholars like Dr Karminder Singh Dhillon try to counter Nirmala influenced sources by proposing Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the only reliable source of Tat Gurmat, exposing Janam Sakhis and other such sources as unreliable distortions meant to weaken the revolutionary character of the Gurus’ message. For them Gurbani should be understood only through Gurbani and not through unreliable hagiographic accounts.
Hence, if the data pool is itself corrupted, all sampling done by AI and ChatGPT will be corrupted as well. Particular attention has to be given to cleaning up the data pool. The emphasis has to be placed on such cleaning up of sources rather than wide use of AI. The sheer volume of corrupted data means that it cannot be removed. However, Tat Gurmat scholars can put content based on Gurbani on the internet in English since this language is the medium of AI. A lot of such content based on Tat Gurmat is in Punjabi. Several books and videos of scholars like Prof. Gurmukh Singh, Giani Dit Singh and Bhai Sahib Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha which are in Punjabi need to be translated into English and put on the internet. New and original content can be simultaneously added in English through books and magazines.
Such rectification is the work of institutions, universities, research centres, most of which are under control of Nirmala, Dera, Taksali or Sampardayi thought. It would be unrealistic to expect rectification from such institutions, universities or academies named after Guru Granth Sahib which keep propagating messages distorting the revolutionary egalitarian liberating message of Guru Nanak and other Sikh Gurus. This work seems to be falling to individuals who have very limited resources.
Hence the acute danger that AI could accentuate the distortions making Sikhi resemble just another offshoot of existing religions with their social practices which Sikh Gurus totally rejected. Violent reactions by established Sikh hierarchy against scholars questioning such distortions are just a reflection of their fear that their privileges could be challenged if true interpretations of Sikh Gurus’ message of liberation and enlightenment were to become general currency among Sikhs, most of whom remain enmeshed in the net woven by such interested parties. When no arguments can be found to counter Tat Gurmat interpretations by some scholars, physical violence is used to silence such voices. Not quite the tortures inflicted by the Catholic Inquisition, but present-day Sikh institutions have their lot of Torquemadas desperate to suppress any voices challenging established orthodoxy.
AI can prove to be a double-edged sword if enough Tat Gurmat data is put on the internet to provide a balancing act to the voluminous mass of hijacked hagiographies, translations of the Guru Granth Sahib and deliberately distorted documents flooding the internet.
The advent of social media led to multiple sources of data and data bases. AI and machine learning technologies come to play a role when big data is available in open space. It is, by definition, complex, contradictory, spread over several inter-connected machines. Some describe it as “Garbage in, garbage out” but big data is complex, ambiguous, contradictory, and enormous information expressed by different people with different backgrounds. What is relevant for one person can be garbage for another.
The intention or purpose of those who develop AI programs is important. A Nirmala influenced developer wanting to paint a tainted picture of Sikhi will design and develop an AI application in such a way that only such datasets of big data are selected as suit his/her purpose. On the other hand, Tat Gurmat proponents will select only those datasets which reflect their view. They will ignore those datasets which are not in line with the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as per their understanding.
It could be a digital tussle between people with divergent views and divergent interests. Industry regulators, the European Union being one of them, are trying to foresee what could go wrong. They are debating how the AI industry should be regulated for the benefit of the general public. AI program developers need to be made conscious that AI programs must differentiate between what is relevant and what is not relevant. They need to learn how to understand and interpret linguistics.
Tat Gurmat scholars believe that vested interests bent on distorting the true message of Guru Nanak have hijacked Sikh institutions. This already creates a difficult initial situation. AI programs by default would tend to pick up what is already spread as big data by the Nirmalas and other such parties. Their version is widely accepted as the true version of Sikhi by general Sikh masses.
It would not be fair to blame credulous Sikh masses for not challenging such distortions in a more forceful manner. The fault lies with Sikh leaders, heads of Sikh institutions, Katha Vachaks, Dera Chiefs, myriad Sants / Babas and Taksalis who are more concerned with preserving their privileged status by tightening their hold on Sikh masses using such spurious sources as bases of Sikhi.
TURNING THE TIDE
Hope arises since an increasing number of young Sikhs, men and women, especially outside India, who, having been educated in Western educational institutions, away from the influences of Babas, Deras, Taksals etc, are striving to get a proper understanding of the true message of Sikhi which is in tune with their views about the environment, rational thinking and liberation from fear in a menace ridden world where intolerance is rising. The Guru Granth Sahib shows them that there exists a universal message of peace, co-existence and enlightenment which frees us from meaningless rituals, superstitions, the hold of a venal priestly class and intolerance.
AI can assist their views by making it easier for scholars to access their views. Without a sustained corrective effort to present the Tat Gurmat view on the internet, AI will contribute to further entrenching the presently current hijacked view of Sikhi as just another offshoot of miracle fostering inegalitarian religious doctrines. Guru Nanak set an example of Samvaad. He not only questioned existing religious and social practices but had the gumption to debate with Sidhs, Mullas, Pandits and others to challenge their views without fear. Our future generations need to emulate this example without being cowed down by existing shackles of orthodoxy. Sikhi means questioning existing practices and understanding the genuine message of our Gurus.
AI can not only provide a tool for providing right interpretations of Sikhi but also provide a channel for unearthing hijacked versions of Sikhi to properly counter them by providing detailed Shabads from the Guru Granth Sahib to establish the primacy of the Shabad Guru to replace the presently prevalent practice of bodily Gurus in the form of Babas, Deras, Sants et al. The double-edged sword of AI needs to be wielded by educated young Sikh scholars motivated to free themselves from the hold of vested interests masquerading as the guardians of Sikhi and Sikh institutions. AI might enable new Sikh reformers to arise by using AI to nail their Tat Gurmat beliefs to the doors of existing institutions, undeterred by threats of physical or mental violence.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
What needs to be done? Right information must be provided in English. Sikhs need to be observant and provide feedback to AI programs available in the AI sector, for example ChatGPT or Bing, which might be spreading information not in line with the message of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs should actively engage with them to make them rectify sources of false information. Sikh scholars should design and develop their own KI programs to identify fake information to make general public aware of this.
Herein lies a big opportunity to win back what has been hijacked by vested interests. Sikh forums should actively participate in European Union organs discussing regulations about utilisation of AI. The agenda here should be to ensure that religious texts are interpreted as per their true spirit and understood as meant by their creators. In this way, AI and machine learning technologies can be major opportunities for Sikhs and others.
Jogishwar Singh, PhD, has close to five decades of professional experience in government and private sector. Officer of the Indian Police Service and the Indian Administrative Service in India before moving to Switzerland in 1985. Direct experience in financial restructuring of companies and banking in Switzerland from 1987 till 2018 before becoming an independent adviser in 2019. He can be reached at jogishwarsingh@gmail.com. This article appeared as the editorial of the The Sikh Bulletin – 2023 Issue 3 (July – September 2023).
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Brilliant article from a gifted scholar. AI indeed, like most technologies brings forth opportunitites and threats. Whilst, the article rightly identifies the dangers of biased interpretations infecting the data bases, there is another even greater threat that the article doesnt pick up, and that is of the prpduction of fake text.
There is a crucial concern about the potential misuse of generative AI in relation to the sacred texts contained within the Guru Granth Sahib. We know that Generative AI, known for its tendency to “hallucinate,” can create novel fake text that might resemble Gurbani in form or style. This raises the risk of fake shabads and even entire fake Granths being produced and circulated. There are many dangers associated with this, which I identify below:
Misinformation and Misinterpretation: Fake Gurbani could mislead people into believing false teachings or interpretations, undermining the authenticity and integrity of the scripture.
Erosion of Trust: The ability to create indistinguishable fakes could erode trust in authentic Gurbani sources, creating confusion and doubt.
Disrespect and Offense: Generating fake Gurbani could be seen as disrespectful and offensive to Sikhs, violating the sanctity of their sacred text.
So what can we do about this?
This is not an easy question to answer as the future is not certain, but we can take certain steps now:
First, we need to establish a powerful AI monitoring institution tasked to identify, correct, and erase such attempts. This will need scholars as well as computer scientists.
Second education and awareness: Educating the community about the risks of fake Gurbani and empowering them to critically evaluate sources.
Third, collaboration with AI Developers: Working with developers to create safeguards and ethical guidelines for using AI with religious texts.
Fourth, developing a unique Gurbani AI tool which becomes the industry standard.
It’s important to remember that this is a complex issue with no easy answers. Further discussion and thoughtful engagement from all parts of the Sikh Panth are crucial to navigate these challenges.
But with scholars such as Dr Jogishwer Singh at the helm, I am certain we can navigate a path through the dangers and realise the immense possibilitites that Ai offers not only to Sikhs, but humanity as a whole.
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