Israel disputes it has Lavender, AI program for targeted killing that tolerates civilian casualties

Israel is aggressively disputing assertions that it is using an artificial intelligence system for a targeted killing program that tolerates civilian deaths as acceptable collateral damage in its war against Hamas. 

Explosive allegations that Israel has a secret AI-powered killing machine called “Lavender” spread on Wednesday in a pair of news reports citing anonymous intelligence sources involved in the Hamas-Israel war.  

The Israel Defense Forces, already under fire for the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, said Wednesday evening that it does not use AI to designate people as targets for military strikes. Israel‘s relations with the U.S. and other allies have been strained even further by the errant strike from an Israeli missile that killed seven international aid workers in Gaza on Monday, a strike Israel says was a “tragic mistake.”

“Contrary to claims, the IDF does not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist,” the IDF said in a statement published on its website. “Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the target identification process.”