After the news came out that Israel deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to pick their targets, we were bombarded with so many articles with blaring headlines with AI in it. Fighting for eyeballs media makes the headlines catchy and sensational. Many a times the headlines end up giving misleading information. If the reader is not savvy enough, they will walk away with wrong and problematic conclusions. Samples below:

              Over 60 nations agree to a joint call to action on responsible use of AI in military

             U.S. looking at report that Israel used AI to identify bombing targets in Gaza

             Report: Israeli Army Uses AI to Produce Palestinian Targets for Assassination

             Death By Algorithm: Israel’s AI War In Gaza

Keeping aside Israel and Palestine, let’s look at what these headlines try to convey about use of AI.

             How to interpret responsible use of AI? Responsible use makes the war acceptable?

             AI to identity bombing targets – is the picking more accurate with AI?

             AI is better at differentiating between civilians and non-civilians?

            Those who get killed in attacks are not referred to as people but targets.

            Now that AI algorithm picks the targets, in the event of any incorrect picks like World Central Kitchen the blame can be shifted to AI and not humans

            None of the headlines say anything about the victims or the perpetrators of the war

            Discussion has conveniently shifted to use of AI in military instead of why men go to war in the first place.

Flooded with questions like these. These headlines are nothing different from the ones we have seen on crimes against women. Sample below:

            Woman chased from India Gate, raped in Alaknanda

            Girlfriend assaulted by Jilted lover

In both the headlines, the focus is on the victim than the crime and there is no mention of the perpetrator. Second one does mention the perpetrator, but the headline seems to convey the girlfriend brought it upon herself by ditching the lover. Victims carry the blame on their shoulders. On the other end of the spectrum, headlines paint the culprit as the monster, which is again incorrect. Most of the crimes against women are committed by average men, they don’t need to be an animal or a monster.

AI or no AI, civilians get killed in any war. Children who don’t have any say are the ones highly impacted by the war crazy adults. As readers, we need to look at the language of reporting critically. It is high time we shift the focus to perpetrators of crime rather than victims and AI and start from the first principle, why men behave this way in the first place?