It Is Not in Heaven: A Talmudic Argument About an Oven and the Case Against Letting AI Decide

Event details Date: Monday, August 31, 2026 Time: 1:00 PM to 1:00 PM Type: Lecture / Workshop About this event In a famous Talmudic dispute, a heavenly voice endorses one rabbi’s view and the sages reject it anyway, declaring that the law “is not in heaven.” This lunch talk by Professor Dov Greenbaum reads that refusal as an early decision not to let a perfect external oracle settle a legal question, and asks what it teaches now, as courts and lawyers begin handing judgment to AI systems that predict outcomes with uncanny accuracy. Can a correct answer from the wrong kind of source still be the wrong answer? No background in Talmud or AI assumed. RSVP: https://forms.gle/bcVU2Rg7z7qw7yBY8 Official event details: https://events.berkeley.edu/law/event/327670-it-is-not-in-heaven-a-talmudic-argument-about-an