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The Military AI

AI-Assisted Guns Deployed By Israel To Track Targets In the West Bank (euronews.com) 167

Israel has deployed a new kind of robotic weapon over a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, reports Euronews. "The twin gun turrets can fire tear gas, stun grenades, and sponge-tipped bullets."

"Operated by trained soldiers, they track their targets using AI."

Slashdot reader DevNull127 writes: A Euronews video features footage of Sharone Aloni, Research and Development VP of Sharp Shooter, demonstrating one of the company's devices with an automatic Fire Control System. "Inside here, you have the computer running all the artificial intelligence, computer vision algorithms, which makes this what we call a true fire control system," Aloni says. "It's not only just relying on static information. It actually considers the human, the soldier, which is not stable. He's under pressure. He's tired. Sometimes he didn't get enough training. And also, the target is usually dynamic, and it's moving all the time."

The company's web site promises the systems "significantly increase weapon accuracy." And according to Euronews, Israel's army "says the tech protects soldiers, who can fire more accurately at a distance." But Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch's director for Israel and Palestine, counters that when he hears claims of a reduction in risks, "that's often a one-sided kind of risk. It might minimize the risk for the occupying force or the army deploying it, but often it invariably increases the risk to affected communities." Sophisticated weapons systems "will lack elements of human control and agency that are often the difference between life and death." Euronews adds that "Palestinians and human rights experts say the weapons are dehumanizing, dangerous and unaccountable."

Sharp Shooter has a response to that, according to Eurnoews: the robotic guns are not fully automated, so a soldier must always pull the trigger, with the system only firing "after algorithms assess factors like wind speed, distance and velocity." And Michal Mor, Sharp Shooter's CEO and founder, also describes its utility in fighting a terrorist. "Usually the terrorist will be inside a civilian environment with many people that we do not want to hurt.

"We're enabling the soldier to look through his fire control system, to make sure that the target that he wants to hit is the legitimate target. Once he locks on the target, the system will make sure that the round will be released when he presses the trigger, only on the legitimate target, and none of the bystanders can be hit by the weapon."

The Israeli army stressed to Euronews that their deployment isn't using live rounds, and can only fire tear gas, stun grenades, and sponge-tipped bullets.

A resident of the refugee camp tells Euronews that the gun "is very fast, even faster than the soldiers."
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AI-Assisted Guns Deployed By Israel To Track Targets In the West Bank

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  • by kiviQr ( 3443687 ) on Sunday October 23, 2022 @03:53PM (#62991679)
    it flies like a bullet - it is a bullet and it is live
  • This (Score:4, Insightful)

    by memnock ( 466995 ) on Sunday October 23, 2022 @03:58PM (#62991693)

    is terrifying.

    • This is terrifying.

      So many people are afraid of AI becoming sentient, and taking over or killing humanity.

      But this shows a future where the opposite is true - AI is built to simply augment what humans can do.

      There's do difference between what this turret, manned by a human and told who to fire on and what ammo to use, and a turret manned by a human...

      Except there is, because this current makes it way less likely the operator will fire on, or hit the wrong target.

      In theory something like this could easily ta

  • by mspohr ( 589790 ) on Sunday October 23, 2022 @04:28PM (#62991745)

    I assume that this advanced AI can identify reporters so that they can be targeted for assassination.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by drnb ( 2434720 )

      I assume that this advanced AI can identify reporters so that they can be targeted for assassination.

      Simple solution, we provide reporters with an AI that points out the group of men they are traveling with are carrying AK and RPG. That they are standing next to legit targets and likely to get fragged as a result. Reporters seem to need assistance identifying such things.

      • It's easy. The last reporter that was assassinated was wearing a vest that said reporter in big letters. Easy for the assassin to spot. No need for big messy grenades. Just a single sniper shot.

        • by drnb ( 2434720 )
          That's cute, you think a "PRESS" patch is recognizable beyond close distances. Here's a clue, Hollywood and video games do not present an accurate representation of what troops see, even snipers. Here's another clue: Dust and dirt can easily obscure patches. Here's a third clue: Some shots miss their target and hit someone next to them, not all single shots come from a sniper, and even snipers can miss.

          Again, don't stand near the guys with the AKs and RPGs.
  • "Accuracy" (Score:3, Insightful)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Sunday October 23, 2022 @04:33PM (#62991761)

    The company's web site promises the systems "significantly increase weapon accuracy."

    When they say "significantly increase weapon accuracy" they mean being able to more easily kill reporters [voanews.com] covering Israel's apartheid even if they're American citizens.

    Just like Saudi Arabia kills journalists [bbc.com].

    • Then why doesn't your government do something about it? If your American, why don't the precious fucking Democrats deal with it? Oh right, they are just like the Republicans just pushing different soundbytes they don't actually believe it.

  • Have to maintain terror in the open air prison when they are close to hilltop settlements, almost impossible to maintain security otherwise, the distances are just too small.

  • ...children playing football on the beach, women at peaceful protests, & journalists as legitimate targets. The IDF tests high-tech weaponry & crowd-control gear on Palestinians so that arms manufacturers can market the stuff as "tried & tested" to other oppressive, despotic regimes. It's all about the money. Oh, & keeping the hard-line extremists who vote for whichever party is promoting genocidal policies against Palestinians.
  • Real life sentrygun like in Teamfortress. Saw it on youtube with a paintball gun a while back.

  • What you can use against someone, can eventually be used against you. If you the big dog can occupy someone today, you too can be occupied someday. That, and walls never work. Is there any ancient wall that designates a national border of today?

    • Walls slow things down. From that perspective, they work incredibly well. You can also mount stuff on top of sturdy walls. Like AI-guns, and those damn well will be working.

      We can wail about how this is all really immoral but everyone who can develop this tech will because otherwise they will get left behind and eventually conquered. Might makes right.

    • That, and walls never work.

      Walls actually work. They don't work perfectly, but nothing else does either.

  • by swell ( 195815 ) <jabberwock@poetic.com> on Sunday October 23, 2022 @11:52PM (#62992571)

    This time it's not a joke. I'm an older person, like many here, and my personal attitude about war is that I would never pick up a gun and shoot other people. But young people aren't so inclined. They love video games where they can shoot everything that moves. And they often idolize soldiers and other 'heroic' characters in the movies etc.

    Unfortunately, every government recruits children for its war machine. Even the evil warlords of Africa and South America recruit children at a disturbing young age. The minds of children can be molded by experienced agents to any form that suits the desires of leaders.

    Children need to know that those are not heroic people. They are people who follow orders. They don't know where the orders come from, or care. They obediently do what they are told. They have become robots, unthinking, uncaring, and forgetful that all humans have a right to a good life.

    This kind of weapon will be very attractive to children and psychotic individuals. It should be outlawed.

    • by swell ( 195815 )

      sorry - it should NOT be allowed !

    • Israel thinks of the children. They force them into compulsory military service before their brains are even finished developing to make sure that a significant percentage of them support militarism.

  • In 2022 it seems Asimov's First Law is rendered moot given AI's remote potential. For a long time already, weapons once fired can self-navigate way, way over the horizon to their target. This is about automatic targeting while still allowing for a human to decide to pull the trigger.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

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