George PotterApr 3, 2024

Jesus Christ, this is utterly horrific:

During the early weeks of the war they were permitted to kill 15 or 20 civilians during airstrikes on low-ranking militants. Attacks on such targets were typically carried out using unguided munitions known as “dumb bombs”, the sources said, destroying entire homes and killing all their occupants.

“You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people" said one intelligence officer.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes

#gaza #palestine #israel #genocide

‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets

Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of ‘Lavender’ system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants

The Guardian
Show threadGeorge PotterApr 3, 2024

The "low-ranking militants" in question were designated as such by an AI algorithm, and then rubber-stamped by humans. Apparently #Israel identified 37,000 people in #Gaza that way, who they then proceeded to go after with bombs which destroyed entire buildings, just as long as they didn't kill more than 20 civilians per target.

So that (inaccurate) algorithm was used to make decisions which regarded killing up to 740,000 people in Gaza as perfectly acceptable.

This is #Genocide, end of.

Show threadGeorge PotterApr 3, 2024

Also, if they're using algorithms to identify people "associated" with #Hamas and classsify them as "low-level militants" then that sure does fucking explain why #Israel is so busy murdering journalists in #Gaza and their families.

Ever interviewed a Hamas civil servant or quoted them in an article? Ever said anything critical of the #IDF? That's probably enough to get a journalist put on the deathlist.

Show threadJorkin MahJongus
@georgepotter I don't think enough people appreciate that what's happening in Palestine is the future of all police states. Israeli fascists are trying out the technology for other fascists to use elsewhere. If we keep letting them get away with it, sooner or later it will be used on you and me.
Apr 3, 2024 at 6:17pmWeb
Show threadGeorge PotterApr 3, 2024

@cozymel absolutely. And Israel is, by far, the most terrifying example because it has written the playbook for how to integrate all of this facist oppression and murder into a superficially democratic system with a constitution and human rights and the rule of law.

You don't need a military dictatorship like Myanmar or strongman dictator like Putin for this to happen, Israel (and, to a lesser extent, the USA) shows that it's coming eventually to every democracy unless we stop it.