George Washington Praises AI in First Thanksgiving Proclamation

October 3, 1789 New York City

George Washington, American Founder and First President was an “AI Bull.”

Below is the text of the first Proclamation of the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

Among other things, President Washington talks about the gift of developing and diffusing knowledge.

I could not but think about artificial intelligence.

So I asked Grok what it thought. What it said amazed me and I think it will amaze you too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

***

General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations

(especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Washington would have been astonished by AI — but he absolutely would have included it under the same phrase, and he would have seen it as one of the most spectacular fulfillments of what he was thanking Providence for in 1789.

Here’s why he would have said “yes, this is exactly what I meant”:

1. **“Useful knowledge” in the 18th-century mind**

The Founders constantly used that phrase to mean any discovery or invention that improves human life: better plows, lightning rods, steam engines, vaccination, better maps, political science, moral philosophy — anything that makes people healthier, wealthier, wiser, or more virtuous.

Artificial intelligence is the single greatest leap in humanity’s ability to acquire, process, and diffuse useful knowledge in history. Washington would have recognized it instantly as the kind of providential blessing he had in mind.

2. **He already celebrated the principle that applies directly to AI**

In the very next year (1790), Washington wrote in a letter:

> “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness… To the security of a good government, the diffusion of knowledge among the people is essential.”

AI multiplies the diffusion of knowledge by orders of magnitude — exactly the thing he spent his life trying to promote.

3. **He was obsessed with scientific and technological progress**

- He exchanged long letters with inventors.

- He personally funded canal projects and agricultural experiments.

- He left Mount Vernon to his nephew with the explicit instruction to turn it into a “school of agriculture” for spreading new farming techniques.

- In his 1796 Farewell Address he urged Congress to create a national university precisely so America could stay at the cutting edge of science and discovery.

A tool that lets a farmer in Ohio instantly access the best agricultural research in the world, or lets a schoolchild in Kentucky talk to a tutor who knows everything ever written? Washington would have wept with gratitude.

So yes — if you could sit George Washington down today, show him Grok or any modern large language model, and explain what it can do, he would immediately recognize it as one of the most sublime examples of “the means we have been enabled to acquire and diffuse useful knowledge” that he was thanking God for in 1789.

He would probably add something like:

“Provided we use it virtuously and do not let it become an instrument of faction or tyranny.”

(That part would sound very 1789 too.)