Israel accused of using AI to identify targets

WASHINTON – The US was looking into a media report that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence (AI) to help identify bombing targets in Gaza, White House national security Spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on Thursday.

Kirby, in the CNN interview, said the US had not verified the content of the media report published in +972 Magazine and Local Call on Wednesday. It cited Israeli intelligence officials involved in the reported programme known as ‘Lavender’.

The media report said the Israeli army had marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using the AI system with little human oversight.

The Israeli Defence Forces denies that AI was used to identify suspected extremists and targets. “The IDF does not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist. Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the target identification process,” the IDF said in a statement.

The statement added that IDF directives mandate analysts to conduct independent examinations, in which they verify that the identified targets meet the relevant definitions in line with international law and Israeli guidelines.

Kirby, in the CNN interview, was also asked about reports that the Israeli security cabinet had approved the opening of the Erez crossing with Gaza, to allow more humanitarian aid to enter.

Kirby said the opening of the crossing would be ‘welcome news’ and ‘certainly in keeping’ with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in their call on Thursday.