AI Made the List—but Humans Still Did the Killing
In the film “NAZA,” Israeli soldiers reveal the workings of autonomous warfare.
The Israeli documentary NAZA offers a stark contrast to the grim predictions of artificial intelligence leading to humanity's demise, instead focusing on the human impact of AI-driven warfare in Gaza. Over 80 minutes, the film interviews 24 anonymous IDF soldiers who participated in relentless military strikes on Gaza over the past three years, providing a firsthand account of the moral complexities and unintended consequences of such actions.
NAZA, named after the Hebrew acronym for "collateral damage," delves into the AI systems integral to the war, such as Lavender, which identifies enemy targets, and Where's Daddy, which uses children's cellphones to locate Hamas members for strikes. While these systems were previously discussed in the media, NAZA provides a unique perspective through the soldiers' firsthand experiences and reflections on the moral implications of their actions.
Unlike the concerns of tech CEOs about AI's potential to eliminate humanity, NAZA examines how AI enables the military to justify killing civilians and absolves humans of moral responsibility. Soldiers express a certain detachment from the decision-making process, believing that AI's impartiality makes their role more justifiable.
However, the film exposes the contradiction of this belief, as the targeted strikes often result in significant civilian casualties, sometimes numbering in the dozens or even hundreds per incident.
Despite its critical stance on AI, NAZA ultimately presents a broader indictment of human actions, particularly those of Israelis who have been traumatically affected by both the Holocaust and the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. The film suggests that this prolonged suffering has desensitized some Israelis to the moral ramifications of their military actions, leading to widespread destruction and the killing of civilians, including children and pets.
The soldiers interviewed in NAZA grapple with the psychological burden of their roles in a war that has claimed the lives of over 74,000 Palestinians, highlighting the profound human toll of the conflict.
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