As civilian casualties continue to mount in the wartorn Gaza Strip, reports of Israel’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its targeting of Hamas militants are facing increasing scrutiny. A report by the Israeli outlets +972 Magazine and Local Call earlier this month said that Israeli forces had relied heavily on two AI tools so far in the conflict — “Lavender” and “Where’s Daddy.”
While “Lavender” identifies suspected Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants and their homes, “Where’s Daddy” tracks these targets and informs Israeli forces when they return home, per the report, which cites six Israeli intelligence officers who had used AI systems for operations in Gaza, including “Where’s Daddy?”
“We were not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity,” one of the officers told +972 and Local Call. “On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option. It’s much easier to bomb a family’s home. The system is built to look for them in these situations,” they added.
Yeah, there’s a lot of videos out there and they are definitely built like a prison. Very few of the inside, not sure if that’s good or bad.
As far as the US, considering the scale and purpose, not sure the two are that comparable, but also not really a contest, an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere. I don’t disagree that both are a problem though, but definitely been a bit longer since anyone had a reason to accuse the US of mass sterilization. Did happen in US prisons too though, and a lot more recently than you might think, thankfully smaller scale.