The pace is astonishing: In the wake of the brutal attacks by Hamas-led militants on October 7, Israeli forces have struck more than 22,000 targets inside Gaza, a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast. Just since the temporary truce broke down on December 1, Israel’s Air Force has hit more than 3,500 sites. The Israeli military says it’s using artificial intelligence to select many of these targets in real-time. The military claims that the AI system, named “the Gospel,” has helped it to rapidly identify enemy combatants and equipment, while reducing civilian casualties. But critics warn the system is unproven at best — and at worst, providing a technological justification for the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians. “It appears to be an attack aimed at maximum devastation of the Gaza Strip,” says Lucy Suchman, an anthropologist and professor emeritus at Lancaster University in England who studies military technology. If the AI system is really working as claimed by Israel’s military, “how do you explain that?” she asks. Other experts question whether any AI can take on a job as consequential as targeting humans on the battlefield. “AI algorithms are notoriously flawed with high error rates observed across applications that require precision, accuracy, and safety,” warns Heidy Khlaaf, Engineering Director of AI Assurance at Trail of Bits, a technology security firm. Despite these concerns, most experts agree that this is the beginning of a new phase in the use of AI in warfare. Algorithms can sift through mounds of intelligence data far faster than human analysts, says Robert Ashley, a former head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. Using AI to assist with targeting has the potential to give commanders an enormous edge.

Full story : Israel is using an AI system to find targets in Gaza. Experts say it’s just the start.