'The Gospel' According to Israel: How AI is Shaping the Battlefield

Israel's military has been open about their use of artificial intelligence (AI) for driving data driven insights for real-time decision making on the battlefield. The system is known as The Gospel and according to the Israel Military website the system was developed by Israel's signals intelligence branch, Unit 8200.

Is the use of this technology ethical and is the accuracy worth the payoff?

Consulting firm KPMG released their 2023 global Artificial Intelligence trust study citing that "most people are wary about trusting AI systems and have low or moderate acceptance of AI."

Findings from the study state:

• 61% of respondents are wary about trusting AI systems
• 84% of respondents are concerned about cybersecurity risk
• 33% of respondents lack confidence in government to use, develop, and govern AI

Social media postings have shown a clear criticism of Israel for the use of AI in military response to Hamas terror attack on October 7th. Widespread outrage has been reflected on global news sites, social media, and local news sites alike.

The Gospel

Currently, Israel and Hamas are at war with what Israel is calling Operation Iron Swords. While little is known of the full extent of the The Gospel sources sited on global news sites have expressed that the system is used to gather large amount of intelligence and utilizes AI to make real-time predictions, and decision making as to which military target locations should be considered for operational strikes.

Vast amounts of data being analyzed by AI systems come to conclusions and recommendations much faster than that of purely human analysis; giving Israel a military advantage against Hamas

AI in Warfare

The use of AI in war time applications is not particularly new. In 1991 the U.S. Military utilized an AI program called the Dynamic Analysis and Replanning Tool (DART) used to transport personnel and supplies, and to solve for logistical challenges.

In the current Russian Ukrainian War AI is used for object recognition from images gathered by satellites allowing for more precise and capable target response. The use of AI in this application gives Ukraine an advantage in Geospatial Intelligence.

It comes to no surprise of the use of advanced technologies on the battlefield. The future outlook of the AI coupled with quantum processing will certainly lead to the use of wider military applications including training exercises using digital twins, facial recognition to identify opposition, and AI use in drone and counter-drone swarming to name a few.

The Future of AI in Warfare

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) states that over the next 20 years "military conflict most likely will be driven by the same factors that have historically prompted wars—ranging from resource protection, economic disparities, and ideological differences to the pursuit of power and influence—but the ways in which war is waged will change as new technologies, applications, and doctrines emerge and as additional actors gain access to these capabilities."

The DNI sees a proliferation of the use of improved technologies combining sensors, automation, and artificial intelligence; thus, making systems more accurate, faster, and more destructive.

The use of AI enabled cyber warfare will be used in both defensive and offensive strategies as we have seen with attacks, and defensive measures with SCADA grid attacks.

Conclusion

The rapid development of advanced technologies have always advanced the battlefield and will continue to do so. The advancements in AI warfare makes for a more strategic and faster operational process.

In the way that airplanes changes war so does the advancement of connected, autonomous, automated, and intelligent systems.

Derek Martinez is a technology specialist - AI, Digital Transformation, IoT.

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