Artificial Intelligence: A Perilous Journey

💢 Artificial Intelligence: A Perilous Journey 💢

🔺 The greatest threat to us is not artificial intelligence itself, but our human surrender to it. The idea of AI is no longer mere science fiction or a simple assistive tool; it has surpassed that stage to become an adversary to the human mind in the realms of thought, creativity, and decision-making. Artificial intelligence is not just a technological leap; it is a complex interplay between progress and regression, empowerment and impairment.

🔽 The Concept of Artificial Intelligence and Its Mechanism

It is a field that simulates human intellectual capabilities and operates with intelligence resembling that of humans.

🔺 It works by collecting and aggregating data in one place to make it easier for the user to find, as well as processing vast amounts of unstructured data.

🔻 Who Controls Artificial Intelligence?

They are the same entities that control the world's economy.

Who controls the capabilities of artificial intelligence?

There are propositions framing it as a geopolitical race for dominance and victory,not as a societal system that should be managed wisely.

AI may be employed for dominance and victory...despite all societies benefiting from its unique advantages.

Washington: Enrique Dans

Published: September 7, 2025 CE — Rabi' al-Awwal 14, 1447 AH

In the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, a small group of executives quietly makes decisions that will shape the course of life for billions of people. Most of us won't know what those decisions are until it's too late to change them.

🔽 An American Plan for Artificial Intelligence

Last July,the White House published the "U.S. Artificial Intelligence Action Plan," a 28-page document that resembles an industrial policy for a new arms race.

⭕ Within its first pillar lies a line that tells you exactly where U.S. policy is heading: "Review the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework to remove references to misinformation, diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate changes."

⬅️ When governments begin deliberately deleting these words, it's fair to ask: Who is setting the terms of our technological future - and for whose benefit? Easing Oversight... and a Geopolitical Race

◀️ This is more than just talk. The plan itself boasts about revoking the previous U.S. administration's executive order on AI, easing oversight, and accelerating the pace of infrastructure and energy for data centers. It fundamentally reframes AI as a geopolitical race "for dominance and victory," rather than a societal system that should be managed. It's a perspective less focused on governance and more oriented towards deal-making, a governance style that treats public policy like a terms-of-service document.

🔽 The European Path

Europe has chosen a completely different path:imposing restrictions first, then expanding. The European Union's AI Act entered into force in August 2024, imposing gradual obligations until 2026, with enforcement designed based on risk. Is it perfect? Certainly not. But the message is unambiguous: democratic institutions - not just corporate public relations departments - must determine acceptable uses, disclosures, and responsibilities before the technology proliferates everywhere.

🔽 Companies Control AI

Simultaneously,the weight of AI is concentrated in the grip of a few companies that control computing capabilities, models, and distribution. Take computing as an example—specifically, the accelerated computing capacity (speeding up GPU/accelerated CPU processing time) needed to train and operate modern AI—in addition to models and distribution.

🔽 Areas of AI Application

· Used in e-commerce.

· Used in the medical field for analyzing medical images.

· Used in precise robotic surgeries.

· Used in developing automotive technologies.

· Used in the field of education by providing educational systems that offer customized content for each student.

🔽 The Extent of Reliance on AI

Heavy reliance on AI in:

· Investments

· Manufacturing

· Medicine

· The financial sector

· E-commerce (e.g., Amazon, Netflix)

· Education

......⬇️

🔽 The Positive Side of AI

Among its most prominent positives and advantages:

1. Error-Free Processing: When humans execute tasks, they are prone to errors as it is human nature. Therefore, it can be said that AI-powered devices surpass humans in terms of efficiency and reduce errors.

2. Assists in Repetitive Tasks: Humans are known to struggle with repetitive tasks that reduce their efficiency and productivity, but AI technology came to solve this problem.

3. Always Available: This is one of the most important features of AI systems: their operational ability to provide services 24 hours a day.

4. Making Correct Decisions

5. Digital Assistance: All AI applications provide digital assistance used by institutions to perform various automated tasks.

6. Use in Dangerous Situations: In many cases, humans cannot undertake risky experiments like exploring ocean depths or handling hazardous materials. However, AI systems can be utilized to perform these tasks. They can be used appropriately, allowing scientists to make inventions with minimal risk to human life.

7. Emergence of New Inventions: The use of AI has led to the emergence of many technologies that help reach innovative solutions, such as early cancer detection, which has greatly benefited the healthcare field.

8. Scalability: Companies relying on AI systems gain the advantage of handling increasing data and user requests while maintaining accuracy and efficiency, as this system is characterized by scalability, which benefits those companies during their growth stages.

🔽 The Negative and Dark Side of AI

· Increased unemployment.

· Weakened creativity and the replacement of the real mind with a fake one.

· Security and privacy risks due to heavy reliance on data vulnerable to unauthorized access.

· Increased laziness among individuals due to greater reliance on devices resulting from task automation.

· Its use in the field of warfare, which is one of the biggest negatives of AI. For instance, Israel has used AI extensively in its war on Gaza since 2023. This technology represents a central axis for geopolitical analysis and ethical and legal criticism in the region.

🔽 Key Military AI Tools Used by Israel

1. "Lavender" System

· Identifying individuals suspected of belonging to factions. It uses machine learning technology to analyze vast amounts of surveillance data and assign each individual a suspicion score.

· This system was used to generate lists of human targets, reaching up to 37,000 names at one point. Intelligence sources reported that the system was used in targeting lower-ranking elements within an "automated kill chain," where permission was given to kill a large number of civilians (15-20) to target one low-ranking suspect.

2. "The Gospel" / "Habsora" System

· Generating lists of physical targets (buildings, facilities, tunnels) instead of individuals, using algorithms.

· This system contributed significantly to accelerating the pace of operations. A report indicated that Israel used it to identify 200 targets in just 12 days, compared to a traditional rate of up to 100 targets per year previously.

🔻 Additionally, AI is used in:

· Monitoring evacuation operations: Using mobile phone location data to track the movements of civilians in Gaza on an interactive map.

· Facial and voice recognition: Identifying individuals even with partially concealed faces.

· Arabic-language chatbot: Analyzing text messages and social media posts.

🔽 Ethical Risks

🔻 These systems provoke sharp criticism from several parties:

· High civilian casualties: Errors in identification and civilian injuries due to reliance on the systems have been documented, such as in a raid targeting a Hamas commander that resulted in the killing of 125 civilians.

· Violation of international law: Organizations like Human Rights Watch indicate that these tools lack accuracy and may rely on biased data, endangering civilians and violating the principles of "distinction" and "proportionality" in international humanitarian law.

· Weak human oversight: Some operators reported that their role turned into an "automatic approval stamp," where they spent only 20 seconds on each target proposed by AI.

💢 Psychological Impact on Operators:

There are indications that the coldness of the machine and its"emotionless" decision made the targeting process psychologically easier for some operators compared to human decisions.

⭕️⭕️⭕️⤵️

🔽 The use of AI transcends the military aspect to encompass broader strategic dimensions:

1. The Role of Major Tech Companies (Alleged Complicity): The "Palestinian Policy Network" (Al-Shabaka) considers companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft complicit through contracts like the "$1.2 billion Project Nimbus," which provided the Israeli government with a powerful cloud infrastructure used by military AI tools. Reserve soldiers working in these companies directly transferred their technical expertise to the Israeli intelligence Unit 8200.

2. Strategic Transformation in the Israeli Army: Israel established an "AI Brigade" as a permanent military body, confirming that the shift towards "digital warfare" is a long-term strategy, not a temporary measure. The brigade contributes to developing robots, generating targets, and analyzing massive data for the benefit of field forces.

🔽 Conclusion:

Artificial intelligence has positives and negatives:replacing real minds with fake ones, and exploiting it for moral corruption. Among its greatest negatives and most prominent examples of its use is Israel's employment of this aspect in Gaza as a field laboratory to test and develop an integrated system of military AI tools, supported by a partnership with the global technology sector.

⭕ This transformation is a central axis in geopolitical developments. It not only changes the nature of armed conflict but also raises profound dilemmas about the responsibility of technology companies, the gap in international oversight, and the future of warfare.

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📕 Sources:

· Gulf Training and Education Company

· Digital Government Authority

· Al Jazeera Center for Studies

· Al-Mayadeen News website