Israel unveils artificial intelligence strategy for armed forces

JERUSALEM — Israel has adopted a new strategy for the incorporation and use of artificial intelligence across the branches of its armed forces, according to a senior Israel Defense Forces official.

The new strategy was unveiled amid the AI Week 2022 three-day event at The Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center and Tel Aviv Center for AI and Data Science at Tel Aviv University. The event included a session on the IDF’s new information and AI strategy.

A senior Israel Defense Forces official, whose name could not be used due to the sensitivity of their position, noted that the IDF is undergoing a digital transformation in dealing with AI in all its branches and the commands. This will be the first time the IDF has a multi-branch and multi-command plan for use of AI.

For the IDF, the strategy is part of a belief that data and AI has a major role for winning future conflicts, processing the vast amount of data being generated by various sensors, transforming it into intelligible information and delivering it where it needs to go.

“[It enables the IDF to be] more effective, faster and more efficient. Data is the dimension that is most flexible and adaptable. We fight in many arenas with new threats and challenges and this allows us great flexibility,” the official said.

Reports indicate artificial intelligence played a key role in the Israel conflict with Hamas in Gaza in May 2021, and artificial intelligence is increasingly being incorporated into systems developed by Israeli defense companies, such as rifles, bomb s and other systems, meaning the IDF now has an increasing array of platforms that use AI.

The IDF opted to release an unclassified version to foster engagement with its partners.

“It was cleared by the general staff and it was very important for us to create an unclassified version; this allows us to have this kind of conversation with industry, academy and partners overseas. This is important for us,” the official said.

The strategy will be carried out through a new centralized AI department that was established as part of an overall digital transformation of the IDF pushed by Israel Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi over the last several years. Digital transformation is a centerpiece of Israel’s multi-year Momentum plan that was announced in 2020, and it’s involved pushing information to units on the front lines and developing new units such as the Multi-Dimensional unit.

The IDF’s goal is not just to have some systems that use artificial intelligence, but rather to have it be systematically incorporated across the military. The senior officer says that the deeper transformation impacts both the way the IDF is fighting in different domains in the field, as well as pushing technology to the edge of the front line, whether in the navy, air force or ground forces. For individual soldiers, that means potentially using augmented reality technologies that have been available to pilots for many years. That enables the IDF to push relevant knowledge to the field in real time.

“To reach every person, you have to simplify all this data and knowledge, even if it comes in real time. If I give you 1,000 points of interest as a person [i.e a soldier at the frontline], it won’t make sense to you. We put a lot of effort to simplifying that picture, when it comes to its version for the single soldier or small unit somewhere out there, explained the official. “Of course for the general staff, you have a lot more data available and you have experts explaining that to commanders, which you don’t have in the field.”

The IDF strategy spells out multiple scenarios that involve using sensors from various platforms to gather data on potential threats and send that information to systems that can respond. Data collected from the air, ground or sea can be brought together and fused with AI, creating a common operating picture for the armed forces.

“All the forces work on same data set; from one war room and one true picture as much as possible, [even] if you have communication lag, eventually it is one picture,” the official said.

The IDF also said that using AI will help avoid collateral damage.

“We always aim for low collateral damage. That is our assumption. Keeping that as a constant, and doing a lot more, means you have to be using advanced algorithms,” said the official. “It’s a major guideline for us as we go about it [incorporating AI].”

Part of that means keeping a human-in-the-loop. While algorithm’s can do much of the work humans had to do in the past, officials still want a human observing and approving any decisions.

“The human part of the circle is more the decision making and supervision, than data preparation,” said the official. “Where we are at this moment, we always have a person supervising. It’s hard to speculate about the future.”

Seth J. Frantzman is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has covered conflict in the Mideast since 2010 for different publications. He has experience covering the international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and he is a co-founder and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.

耶路撒冷——据以色列国防军一名高级官员透露，以色列已采取一项新战略，将人工智能融入其武装部队的各个部门并加以利用。

这项新战略是在特拉维夫大学布拉瓦特尼克跨学科网络研究中心和特拉维夫人工智能与数据科学中心举办的为期三天的2022年人工智能周活动上发布的。活动期间专门安排了一场关于以色列国防军新信息和人工智能战略的研讨会。

一位因职位敏感而不愿透露姓名的以色列国防军高级官员指出，以色列国防军正在所有军种和指挥部进行人工智能数字化转型。这将是以色列国防军首次制定跨军种、跨指挥部的人工智能应用计划。

对于以色列国防军而言，该战略体现了一种信念，即数据和人工智能在赢得未来冲突中发挥着重要作用，它可以处理各种传感器产生的大量数据，将其转化为可理解的信息，并将其传递到需要的地方。

“（这能让以色列国防军）更高效、更快捷、更有效地作战。数据是最灵活、适应性最强的维度。我们在许多领域作战，面临着新的威胁和挑战，而数据赋予了我们极大的灵活性，”这位官员说道。

报道显示，人工智能在 2021 年 5 月以色列与哈马斯在加沙的冲突中发挥了关键作用，人工智能正越来越多地被纳入以色列国防公司开发的系统中，例如步枪、炸弹和其他系统，这意味着以色列国防军现在拥有越来越多的使用人工智能的平台。

以色列国防军选择发布非机密版本，以促进与合作伙伴的互动。

“这份文件已经过总参谋部的批准，对我们来说，制作一份非机密版本非常重要；这使我们能够与业界、学术界和海外合作伙伴进行此类对话。这对我们来说至关重要，”这位官员说道。

这项战略将通过新成立的中央人工智能部门来实施。该部门是以色列国防军整体数字化转型的一部分，而这一转型是由以色列总参谋长阿维夫·科哈维在过去几年中大力推动的。数字化转型是以色列于2020年宣布的多年期“动力计划”（Momentum plan）的核心内容，其中包括向一线部队推送信息以及组建新的部队，例如多维部队。

以色列国防军的目标并非仅仅拥有一些人工智能系统，而是要将其系统性地融入整个军队。这位高级军官表示，更深层次的变革不仅影响着以色列国防军在不同战区的作战方式，还将推动技术向前线发展，无论是在海军、空军还是陆军。对于普通士兵而言，这意味着他们有可能使用飞行员多年来一直使用的增强现实技术。这将使以色列国防军能够实时地将相关知识传递到前线。

“为了让每个人都能理解，你必须简化所有这些数据和信息，即便它们是实时更新的。如果我给你提供1000个关键信息点（比如前线士兵的信息），你肯定无法理解。我们投入了大量精力来简化这些信息，使其更易于单个士兵或某个小部队理解，”这位官员解释道。“当然，对于总参谋部来说，他们掌握的数据更多，而且有专家向指挥官解释这些信息，而这些在前线是没有的。”

以色列国防军的战略详细阐述了多种作战场景，包括利用来自不同平台的传感器收集潜在威胁数据，并将这些信息发送给能够做出响应的系统。从空中、地面或海上收集的数据可以汇集起来，并利用人工智能技术进行融合，从而为武装部队构建统一的作战图景。

“所有部队都基于同一数据集开展工作；尽可能从一个作战室获得一个真实的画面，即使存在沟通延迟，最终也会得到一个画面，”这位官员说。

以色列国防军还表示，使用人工智能将有助于避免附带损害。

“我们始终以减少附带损害为目标。这是我们的前提。在保持这一目标不变的情况下，还要做得更多，这意味着我们必须使用先进的算法，”这位官员说。“这是我们在应用人工智能时遵循的一项重要指导原则。”

这其中一部分意味着要有人参与决策过程。虽然算法可以完成过去许多需要人工完成的工作，但官员们仍然希望有人观察并批准任何决策。

这位官员表示：“人为因素更多地体现在决策和监督上，而不是数据准备上。目前，我们始终有人在进行监督。未来很难预测。”

塞思·J·弗兰茨曼是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。自2010年以来，他一直为多家媒体报道中东冲突。他曾报道过打击伊拉克和叙利亚境内伊斯兰国组织的国际联盟行动，并且是中东报道与分析中心的联合创始人兼执行主任。