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How the IDF Rewired the Battlefield for the First AI War

(Jerusalem Post) Anna Ahronheim - The current war between Israel and its enemies is the world's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) war, a former IDF senior officer told the Jerusalem Post. Over the past five years, the IDF has been working to strategically transform into a network-enabled combat machine, with AI and Big Data being key enablers to harmonize the flow of information across operational units and commands. The IDF's Digital Transformation Division was formed in 2019 to take all the potential that was happening in the civilian world and bring it to the military. "Without these capabilities, we would have at least 5,000 more soldiers killed, and thousands more terrorists would still be alive," the former officer said. "How do you identify the enemy inside urban areas? You need more sources, sensors, and platforms. And then you need to be able to take all that data, integrate it, and send it to the officer's iPad." In the past, when a target was spotted and troops wanted to transmit the data to either a tank or aircraft, the process would take tens of minutes and involve a long chain of command before approval was given to strike. By then, it would be too late. But with the digital transformation, ground troops can call in the target, and it would be struck by the platform best suited to take it out a short time later. "We implemented AI in order to differentiate between civilians and terrorists," he added. "We harness AI and technology to focus on the hostile forces....The main rule in international law is the principle of differentiation between fighters and noncombatants."
2025-09-16 00:00:00
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