The First AI-assisted Genocide: Human-machine Teaming and the Extermination of Civilians in Gaza

• In Event: New Challenges and Developments in Transitional Justice (ECACTJ Working Group)

Abstract

This paper examines how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the target selection process contributed to genocidal violence in Gaza. The first objective of the paper is to examine how various AI-enabled systems, together with judgments made by Israeli soldiers, erased civilians from the battlefield by redefining them as military targets. The article examines the shortcomings of AI technology (e.g., uncertainty in proxy-based target determinations, faulty training dataset, incorporated error rate) and human decisions (e.g., using “dumb” bombs, relying on wide pinpointing of targets) that contributed to the mass killing of civilians. The second objective is to show how the human-machine assemblage created the conditions for indiscriminate attacks that ignored international humanitarian law.

Author

• Vasja Badalič, Institute of Criminology