Everything that goes wrong is likely to get worse.
This is the philosophy that Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), is forced to resort to, six months after the start of the Gaza war, after the Hamas attack on Israeli territory. Guterres said humanity is “on the verge of an absolute loss of faith in global norms and standards.” And he regretted that in this period 196 humanitarian workers have died, including seven from World Central Kitchen (WCK), the NGO of chef José Andrés.
But it created even more alarm when he expressed his deep concern over reports that Israel was using artificial intelligence (AI) in its military campaigns in the Palestinian territory, a practice that, according to his view, puts civilians at risk and makes the surrender of civilians even more difficult. accounts.
“No part of the life or death decisions that impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms,” he stressed in a press appearance.
“For years I have warned of the dangers of turning artificial intelligence into a weapon and reducing the essential role of the human factor,” he said.
“AI must be used as a force for good to benefit the world, not to contribute to waging war at an industrial level, blurring accountability,” he stressed.
The military use of this artificial intelligence tool is emerging as a growing concern as powers such as the United States and China rush to incorporate it into their armed forces.
The Israeli army maintained that it has relied on new technologies in its campaign to end Hamas in revenge for the 1,200 deaths caused by this organization on October 7. Hamas still holds a hundred hostages today.
According to reports this week, Israel is using an AI program called Lavender to find assassination targets. This strategy, not corroborated by the Netanyahu government, would have played a key role in the bombings of the Palestinians.
Guterres’s words came after the announcement that Israel had fired two army officers for the attack on the WCK convoy. The secretary general said that this is not enough, that the system must be changed.
