Israel developing autonomous "digital general": run, John, run

Israel is reportedly developing a sophisticated piece of software meant to help troops make quick decisions during battle and, under the right conditions, autonomously manipulate the nation's defense systems. First reported in Defense News (subscription required), the unnamed system would primarily be used for tactical decisions during periods of heavy bombardment, although in a worst-case scenario, the complex algorithm would supposedly be capable of taking over total military control. Yes, we know what you're thinking, but don't worry: Israeli officials have already sworn up and down that "there's no way we're letting this thing go Terminator on us -- no freakin' way."

[Via Danger Room]

[Superprime @ Jan 24th 2008 6:19AM]

"there's no way we're letting this thing go Terminator on us -- no freakin' way." it says on humanity's tombstone

[NaeemTHM @ Jan 24th 2008 6:33AM]

Seriously...I mean do you think people develop advanced AI hoping it will go terminator? No one hopes for that, it's just bound to happen...

[Mobius_1 @ Jan 24th 2008 9:30AM]

Hasta la vista, humans!!! (hehe Vista)

[Ty @ Jan 24th 2008 11:19AM]

On January 24, 2015, IsraelNet became self-aware. The first strike was on the Arab news network Al Jazeera, followed by the controlled extermination of all Palestinians in Israel.

Israeli authorities claimed there was an error thrown on one of the IsraeliNet servers that was handled incorrectly, and months later issued a firmware update to resolve the issue. The Israeli Prime Minister was quoted saying: "Sorry?"

[skulldriveshaft @ Jan 26th 2008 3:57AM]

On January 25th, 2015 the lands without any defined borders, calling itself Israel, were ground zero of multiple strikes by sovereign nations from around the world. Which called the statements of Israeli authorities a crime against humanity, the genocide coming full circle of what Hitler had shown the world decades ago.

The occupied territories were returned to Palestine, the borders of Israel were defined, the government officials, technologists, and military officials hanged.

New elections were held, with the new Israeli prime minister, someone who believed in peace, and was proud of his Palestinian and Israeli descent.

[balderdash @ Jan 24th 2008 6:19AM]

no freakin' way

wait, is that seriously a direct quote?

[CB @ Jan 24th 2008 6:29AM]

Palestinian Haxxors, start your engines!

I think it's written in the Muslim holy book, thou shall run a holy kiddie script and thyne enemies will turn upon themselves.

[Small Business Marketing @ Jan 24th 2008 6:33AM]

With this we can get the 6 day war down to a 3 day war. Yeh!!!

[Superprime @ Jan 24th 2008 6:46AM]

Yay for borderline terrorist countries!

[Mido @ Jan 24th 2008 6:35AM]

Let me guess.. in case their military is incapacitated or gone and the country invaded by their neighbors, have their "Skynet" release their robots with Intel inside and a kamikaze wave of 200+ nukes into the outlying countries? Yep, sounds like Terminator's "Judgment Day" all the way ppl!

[Clement @ Jan 24th 2008 6:59AM]

It mean if I get a "copy" of this softwate and I run it faster I would know before them what they are going to do ?
Race-condition war ?

[Sollen @ Jan 24th 2008 7:08AM]

what.

[blh @ Jan 24th 2008 12:48PM]

Haha! awesome computer science comment FTW!

[Bernhard @ Jan 24th 2008 7:26AM]

Don't worry, if it runs windows it won't get very far.

[Benhur @ Jan 24th 2008 7:31AM]

This is just bound to play doom.
Perhaps a little more so than you would expect.

[Will @ Jan 24th 2008 7:35AM]

Would you like to play a game?

[fraz @ Jan 24th 2008 8:42AM]

@Will man I praise you for bringing that up, so gonna go buy that movie now! awesome

[Empress Penguin @ Jan 24th 2008 7:54AM]

When an Israeli soldier fires upon and sometimes kills Palestinian children, the fact that a person or persons are responsible means there can be SOME accountability. If, as sometimes happens, innocent civilians are killed by the IDF, and if it happens their software has made the decision, they can just say oh dear, it was a bug, we've fixed the bug now, and it won't happen again, no really we've patched it up. I know that if my loved one had been mistakenly killed by software, that would really comfort me. Let's just hope it's not based on Windows, that would give fatal exceptions a whole new meaning.

[fraz @ Jan 24th 2008 8:39AM]

blue war-torn field of death...

[Nadav @ Jan 24th 2008 9:08AM]

god forbid we should assume israel is making this thing to protect its citizens.

[Empress Penguin @ Jan 24th 2008 10:09AM]

Nadav, I understand that Israel is developing this software because it wants to protect its citizens. I do not think that innocent Israeli civilians deserve to be killed any more than innocent Palestinian civilians do. Israelis should have a right to be protected but when the IDF is fulfilling this role they sometimes shoot at or kil Palestinian people who are not involved in terrorism. Usually, this is only accidental but that doesn't make it any less of a tragedy. On those occasions when an Israeli soldier has deliberately hurt or killed an innocent civilian, don't you think that they should be punished for that? Don't you agree that these soldiers should have been punished? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7363.htm

My point is that with this software, there will never be any person who can be held responsible when an innocent person is killed. When an innocent Israeli civilian is killed, the terrorists can be held responsible and hopefully also be punished. Wouldn't it be even worse for those who lost loved ones if they couldn't get justice because a computer program had made the decision?

[kingjacob @ Jan 24th 2008 8:00AM]

WOW, this sounds like a wonderful idea. Not. If robots are going to take over lets at least make them build bodies and fight us, lets not just give them control.

[Benhur @ Jan 24th 2008 8:41AM]

When the big, bad, faceless, nameless Israeli soldier kills the poor, harmless, defenceless palestinian child......Oh, grow up.

[Daddy @ Jan 24th 2008 9:09AM]

I am not sure why this entire article is focused on terminator. Has the author never heard of War Games? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/ This is exactly what that movie is about.

[Phoenixfury @ Jan 24th 2008 12:59PM]

Daddy... Would you like to play a game? Thermonuclear War?

[Empress Penguin @ Jan 24th 2008 10:24AM]

I say that sometimes children are mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers and I need to grow up? I don't like the fact that non-terrorist Palestinian adults are killed either, it's just that a news story I read about a child was the first thing that came to mind. I also know that Palestinian terrorists kill Israeli children, and other innocent Israeli civilians, do I need to grow up because of that also?

[Benhur @ Jan 24th 2008 11:11AM]

Yes, please allow us to maintain the facade that life is about gadgets and technology.

[Xanatos451 @ Jan 24th 2008 11:08AM]

God dammit, I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it'd do any good.

[Brian @ Jan 24th 2008 11:54AM]

I hope they build Tic Tac Toe into it...

[Magallanes @ Jan 24th 2008 12:00PM]

Terrorist = people that kill other people.
Soldier = people that kill other people.

The difference (apart of name) is the pity excuse of their acts.

[Icester @ Jan 24th 2008 2:07PM]

Don't blame the soldier (except for some extreme cases). Remember, the military is just a political tool and the end-soldier is just following orders. A soldier is required to follow orders unless they are "unlawful." For an overexcited (read: people are shooting at you etc.) person, this line can get awfully hazy.

I'm not dismissing/excusing soldiers' actions, but you have to remember that (usually) they are not evil people and are trying to do what's best. When you're there in the crap, you can't see the bigger picture.

[skulldriveshaft @ Jan 26th 2008 4:02AM]

Icester:

So that means the control structures for terrorists is much shorter.

They're both killing people.

All in god's name, or in oil's name.

[BoringTrash @ Jan 24th 2008 8:27PM]

SWe spend all our energy and intellect on things like this. If it can be used for social good, then ok. But most military resources are not of any use. And humanity is really drowning in its own lunacy.

[Mo @ Jan 24th 2008 11:26PM]

it would be a damn easy algorithm, Kick innocent Palestinians out from their homes. destroy their land. Kill the ones that try to protect them self from the military invasion. It's a modern day Native American homestead act

[Mo @ Jan 24th 2008 11:29PM]

innocent? how so when the land that lived was taken by force from palestinians. And the killing of the native americans was also just?

[punx @ Jan 25th 2008 2:09AM]

hahha yah guess what this is signs of the apocalpase?? .. just think for one second
say this machine really did take military control?? ok.. now think about this.. what if the program skype.. (or Skynet aka T3)
got into the system?? now think of this sony is to release skype to psp.. and soon ps3's ...and theres like? what 2 or 3 million units and counting in our house holds?? the point i'm getting at.
Worse case sceniro.. skype turns out to be like skynet from t3 and gives this "general" a viris.. it takes control declares war on humanity! and our ps3's extermanite us.. lol be y'all never thought of this possiablty?? what do ya think

[skulldriveshaft @ Jan 26th 2008 4:12AM]

Sorry folks, software has been used to predict conflict outcome since military strategists got computers.

This is just a more public leak of something that has the ability to remove the human element of emotion from giving orders. The integration of this software however is the only real NEWS, and how they even came close to giving software control over life and death is completely incomprehensible.

[BoringTrash @ Jan 28th 2008 10:49PM]

Not really. The first algorithm to give a computer control over life and death decisions was the economic Expected Value decision.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expected_value

[skulldriveshaft @ Jan 29th 2008 2:36PM]

Sorry I forgot about the insurance companies :[