2024-02-10 09:25:44
But they did not prevent tens of thousands of civilians from dying in Gaza, puts Mary Wareham, arms expert at the NGO Human Rights Watch, into perspective. Last December, more than 150 countries backed a UN resolution identifying “serious challenges and concerns” in new military technologies, including “artificial intelligence and autonomy in weapon systems.”
Even a blind soldier becomes a sniper
Like many other modern conflicts, this war is marked by the proliferation of inexpensive drones, which have made aerial attacks easier. Hamas has used many of them, including on October 7 to drop explosives. Israel, whose Iron Dome system intercepts rockets and missiles, has turned to new technology to shoot them down: an AI-enabled optical sight, made by Israeli start-up Smart Shooter and placed on rifles or machine guns. “It helps our forces intercept drones” because “it makes every ordinary soldier, even blind, a sniper,” said the senior defense official.
AI is also used for one of the priorities of the Israeli plan to “annihilate” Hamas: mapping the countless tunnels where, according to Israel, fighters from the Palestinian movement hide and hold hostages. An underground network so vast that it is nicknamed “the Gaza metro” by the Israeli army: at least 1,300 tunnels running over more than 500 kilometers, according to a recent study by the American military academy at West Point.
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To map them, Israel uses drones equipped with AI that can go underground, including a model manufactured by the Israeli start-up Robotican, encapsulated in a robotic box. It is used in Gaza “to penetrate tunnels and see as far as communications allow,” according to the senior Israeli defense official. Before the war, technology did not allow drones to operate underground due to image transmission problems, he adds.
While the conflict raises many questions regarding respect for human rights, it has also reinforced Israel’s status as a world leader in the manufacturing of advanced defense systems. THE Wall Street Journal reported last month that the United States, Israel’s main ally and which provides it with billions of dollars in military aid each year, was training its soldiers to shoot down drones using Smart Shooter technology.
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