UN chief decries Israeli military's AI use in Gaza bombing campaign

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN chief said on Friday he is "deeply troubled" by reports of Israeli military's use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its bombing campaign in Gaza.

Stating that AI is used as a tool for target identification, particularly in densely populated residential areas, resulting in a distressing number of civilian casualties, Antonio Guterres said: "No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms."

"AI should be used as a force for good to benefit the world; not to contribute to waging war on an industrial level, blurring accountability," said Guterres during a press briefing.

Emphasizing that "nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Guterres said "When the gates to aid are closed, the doors to starvation are opened."

He warned that over a million people in Palestine "are facing catastrophic hunger" and that "children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water."

"This is incomprehensible, and entirely avoidable," he added.

Guterres described the situation in Gaza as the "deadliest of conflicts," with devastating consequences for civilians, aid workers, journalists, and health professionals.

Noting that 196 humanitarian aid workers, including over 175 UN staff members, have been killed, he said: "The vast majority were serving UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees), the backbone of all relief efforts in Gaza."

On Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers of World Central Kitchen (WCK) food charity earlier this week, Guterres said the Israeli government has acknowledged errors.

"But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again," he said.

The UN chief has also called for independent investigations and substantive reforms to rectify these failures.

Stressing the urgent need for a significant shift in the delivery of life-saving aid to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Guterres reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.

He further called for the implementation of the recent resolution by the UN Security Council urging a cease-fire and "accelerating the delivery of life-saving aid under a UN mechanism."

"Failure would be unforgivable," he added.

In a plea to avert catastrophe, Guterres urged all parties to step back from the brink, silence the guns, alleviate suffering, and prevent a potential famine before it becomes irreversible.

Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas which claimed 1,200 lives.