UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday expressed serious concern over reports that Israel was using artificial intelligence to identify targets in Gaza.
This remark came after a report in the Israeli magazine +972 claimed that Tel Aviv has used artificial intelligence to identify targets in Gaza — in some cases with as little as 20 seconds of human oversight. Separately, in a post on X, the UN chief also renewed the call for the unconditional release of all hostages still held by Hamas and other groups.
I renew my call for the unconditional release of all hostages still held by Hamas & other groups.I have met with many of the family members of those being held captive & even former hostages themselves.
I carry their anguish, uncertainty & deep pain with me every day. https://t.co/qgKlHucP22
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) April 5, 2024
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Guterres said that he was “deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military’s bombing campaign includes Artificial Intelligence as a tool in the identification of targets, particularly in densely populated residential areas, resulting in a high level of civilian casualties.” “No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms,” he said.
The +972 report claims that “the Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties.” In a rare confession of wrongdoing, Israel on Friday admitted a series of errors and violations of its rules in the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza, saying it had mistakenly believed it was “targeting armed Hamas operatives”.
READ MORE: UN Rights Body Adopts Gaza Resolution; India, 12 Other Countries Abstain
On the same day, a resolution was adopted by the UN’s top human rights body, condemning the alleged “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza”. The resolution, which also called for an arms embargo on Israel, was adopted by 28 votes in favour, six against, and 13 abstentions including India.
The 47-member Human Rights Council backed a call “to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, the occupying Power…to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights”.
(With agency inputs)
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