Summary
Author of “Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for Restoring Palestinian Rights and Improving the Quality of Life” in Light in Gaza (2022), translated by Anas Abu Samhan, proposing AI within a vision of ending the Nakba through return and restored rights (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.148-149).
Details
- In the chapter’s opening, Israel’s advanced AI is denied to Palestinians, and Israeli control of crossings, “dual use” import bans and communications infrastructure imposes a “Digital occupation” of Gaza, with Paltel agreements turning Palestinian high-tech companies into proxies for Israel (Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, PDF p.148-149).
- She argues Israel has turned Gaza into a laboratory for AI military technology — Unit 8200’s Alchemist, Gospel and Depth Wisdom programs, the Gaza Smart Space division, facial recognition by AnyVision, drones, military robots and the “Cyber Dome” of platform censorship — run through five strategies: preventing Palestinian technical development, facial-recognition surveillance, drone suppression, robot-and-sensor digital siege, and combating Palestinian cyberspace (PDF p.150-159).
- AI algorithms, she argues, are built on data biased in favor of the occupation; the virtual digital space “is no longer a secondary space in the Palestinian struggle—rather, it is a real space for struggle no less effective than the one on the ground” (PDF p.160).
- Her proposals for using AI to improve life and restore rights include satellite imagery and Forensic Architecture-style investigation to bring war criminals to justice (enabled by the December 2020 lifting of the Kyl-Benjamin Amendment’s image-resolution limits), live maps and Palestine Open Maps and Palestine VR to connect refugees and the diaspora to their villages, colorizing historical photographs, locally designed AI tools, 3D printing to break the siege on equipment, and AI assistance for Palestinian physicians (PDF p.162-169).
- She closes with AI as “a catalyst for liberation”: a national strategy, specialized research centers, trained AI teams to counter algorithmic bias, and use of the US Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019 and the proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Act against biased algorithms and mass surveillance (PDF p.168-172).
Related pages
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, Digital occupation, Gaza, Right of Return