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Artificial Intelligence and National Security in Israel

Memorandum No. 207, February 2021

Liran Antebi

Artificial intelligence (Al) is a general name for data-based computer systems that are capable of producing knowledge and new insights through abilities, such as understanding, reasoning, and perception, which until now have been perceived as uniquely human abilities. Experts estimate that Al will change our lives beyond recognition, when it takes control of a variety of familiar actions and enables a wide range of new capabilities and applications. This technology has already affected many areas, including national security. Many countries and organizations have begun to recognize that artificial intelligence is no longer a future or futuristic technology; rather it is now a fundamental need. Given the potential influence of AI and Israel’s being a leader in this field, in 2019, the Institute for National Security Studies convened a team of experts to formulate a recommended policy for Israel in this field.

This memorandum serves as a guide to the core issues and terms related to AI. The memorandum presents the technology and its security applications; reviews the state of development and the use of technology in leading countries, and its current and future influences on the international arena, including the “arms race.” The memorandum surveys and analyzes the situation in Israel, in addition to the many challenges of Al’s development, implementation, and use in the field of security and policy. Finally, this memorandum makes policy recommendations regarding Al in the fields of research and development, budgeting and infrastructures, human resources, legislation, regulation, morality, and more.

This memorandum emphasizes that Israel should now formulate a policy in the field of Al so that it can attain significant achievements in the field and not allow such an important and challenging area to be influenced by market forces only. The issues presented here could have a crucial impact on Israel’s future strength, including its economy and its ability to maintain and improve its national security.

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Table of Contents:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a comprehensive name for information and computer systems that display intelligent behavior or create new insights and information. This is a groundbreaking technological field that can be implemented in a variety of applications with relative efficiency, at reasonable cost, and on a broad scale. This technological advancement affects many areas, including national security...

Artificial Intelligence and its Importance for Israel’s National Security Artificial intelligence (AI) is a general name for data-based computer systems that are capable of producing knowledge and new insights through abilities, such as understanding, reasoning, and perception, which until now had been perceived as uniquely human abilities...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a broad name for simulating intelligent human behavior or creating knowledge and insights that have never existed before by using information and computer systems. This technology is important and groundbreaking; for the first time in history, software can efficiently perform abilities that traditionally have been considered exclusively human—such as understanding, reasoning, perceiving, or communicating—at low cost and on a wide scale, using various applications and having different uses. The mechanization of these human abilities creates new opportunities and influences many areas, including national security...

At this point, technological changes have taken place at the fastest pace in history, with some having a crucial impact on countries, societies, and individuals. Among these changes, artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing technological field, which has had a revolutionary impact on almost all aspects of life. AI is a concept that generally refers to hardware or software or integration, which can present a behavior that appears intelligent...

The idea of AI first developed in 1945 when Vannevar Bush, one of the early founders, proposed a system to increase human knowledge and understanding. He was followed by Alan Turing, who in 1950 wrote an article on the capabilities of machines to simulate human beings and their ability to perform intelligent actions such as playing chess. The term artificial intelligence (AI) evolved a few years later and is attributed to John McCarthy, a computer scientist and researcher in the field of cognitive sciences, who organized the first academic conference on the subject in 1956, and to Marvin Lee Minsky, who was trained as a mathematician and was involved in research, inventions, and many developments in the field. It was Minsky who coined the popular definition of AI, noting that “AI is the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men.”

AI includes many perceptual-technological areas, including machine learning, deep learning, computerized vision, natural language processing, and a number of ancillary interconnected fields. This chapter focuses on the different subdomains of AI...

AI applications in the security field have become widespread and are quickly accessible. Security establishments in various countries, security companies, and even some civilian companies have contributed to the development of these applications. In the IDF, for example, it is customary to divide the many applications into two main groups: Those that replace “hard workers,” such as automatic decoding, automatic translations, and other tasks, most of which are considered endless tasks; Those that help make decisions and, in some cases, autonomous decisions about tasks, such as planning and forecasting...

Multiple technologies are influenced by AI or sometimes other technologies are required to enable or support AI applications. Below is a partial list of prominent supported and supporting technologies...

While the current era is defined as the era of “narrow AI,” capable only of certain actions for which they are defined, researchers and experts also address the possibility of developing “general AI,” which will act as a machine that thinks and acts similarly to the human brain. This general definition indicates the complexity of the field, as it combines engineering with the biological, psychological, and cognitive functions of human beings...

The perception of AI as an innovative and influential means is well expressed by Russian president Vladimir Putin who said, “AI is the future, not only for Russia, but for all of humanity . . . it has tremendous opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes a leader in this field will be the ruler of the world.” Indeed, it is evident that countries have internalized this warning and are creating a cohesive strategy in the field. This chapter will review the field of AI in several leading countries, as a basis for discussing possible international implications and for assessing Israel’s relative position in this context...

The possible effects of AI technologies on the international arena are enormous. Besides the general race to achieve AI and the arms race in this field, this chapter considers several other potential effects that AI could have on the international arena, as well as the impact of the arms race...

In the security field in general and in that of the battlefield in particular, autonomous weapon systems (AWS) are extensively discussed in terms of autonomy and AI. The public discussion has focused on the limitations of these systems for several years, and since 2014 the official UN discussions have also focused on them. This test case focused on AWS seeks to expand the understanding of some of the challenges presented by the development of AI...

Israel is an international technological leader in both civilian and security fields. In recent years, Israel has gained a significant foothold in AI, thanks to the growth of startups in Israel and to the international companies that have established development centers in Israel. A large part of the security solutions have embedded AI into their systems, which strengthens their capabilities. Israel has several characteristics that affect these aspects, and this chapter will describe the fields in which Israel leads, including the unique ecosystem and the interactions between the various elements...

In dealing with the issue of AI and national security, it is essential to understand not only the technology and its capabilities but also the concept of national security itself. This concept has been subject to controversy, which is mainly political, cultural, or environmental. This chapter describes the general concept and relates specifically to Israel’s security concept...

Along with the rapid technological advances in AI, a number of various challenges have appeared in different arenas. A discussion of the challenges is important to examining the ways of dealing with these challenges, within the policy framework...

AI is a technology that has revolutionary potential in all areas. Being able to make a machine responsible for actions that were once carried out by a person and to surpass them—even in areas where automation was never imagine—has remarkable effects. Indeed, it is still difficult to fully assess the scope of the revolution and its characteristics, but it is impossible now to ignore the need to prepare for it and for its far-reaching implications, both for those who successfully adopt it and lead in the field, and for those who trail behind...

The opinions expressed in INSS publications are the authors’ alone.

Publication Series Memoranda

TopicsAdvanced Technologies and National Security

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