August 19, 2024: Israeli forces have been using AI (Artificial Intelligence) since 2021 for planning and carrying out combat operations. This became necessary because Israeli targeting specialists found themselves bogged down with too much information on who the targets were and where they were. IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) require timely and accurate data to ensure that the right targets are hit in a timely fashion. If the timing isn’t right the target could have moved and the attack is not only wasted but could hit civilians instead of enemy forces.

Now the IDF finds that it has often collected too much data on potential targets. This makes it difficult to find the current targets it needs to hit. Efforts to use AI to find the right targets in time to attack them have stumbled over the inability to sort out the available target data to find current targets that need to be hit. Another problem is that using AI to analyze the data and find the right targets concentrates on speed rather than accuracy. As a result the IDF is often hitting the wrong targets and doing so faster than before. Before AI, human analysts were used. This process was slower and often missed targets buried in a massive amount of target data. With human analysts you had better accuracy but the process was often so slow that the target had moved out of view by the time IDF air, artillery or ground attacks were launched.

Current criticisms of inaccurate targeting and civilian casualties are the result of Israeli target planners choosing speed over accuracy. Greater civilian casualties are also caused by the frequent use of the wrong weapon. Often a half-ton aerial bomb is used when a ground based anti-tank missile would have done the job. Another problem was that Israeli target planners had stopped keeping track of how many civilians were killed during attacks. When recent data on the actual number of civilians killed in recent Gaza attacks became known, it was an embarrassment for Israeli target planners and a tragedy for the victims.

The IDF is now reviewing its target selection and attack methods to eliminate the problems recently encountered in Gaza.