An overreliance on technology by Israel's intelligence agencies and military has continued to shape the current conflict in Gaza, analysts say, while also being partially responsible for the failure to detect the Hamas attack on October 7. Hamas's surprise attack on army outposts and surrounding villages in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israeli and foreign nationals, mostly civilians, took the Israeli intelligence agencies by surprise. Hamas fighters also took about 240 people captive. Israel, in its brutal military response, has killed more than 17,000 Palestinians in Gaza since then. Within both Israel and the wider Arab region, many have asked how Shin Bet, one of the world's most respected and feared intelligence agencies, which is responsible for Israel's domestic security, could have been outmatched by Hamas using bulldozers and paragliders. The world's disbelief has sparked a bounty of conspiracy theories in some quarters.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to play a significant role in various aspects of the military, including logistics, intelligence gathering, and even combat. In logistics, AI can be used to optimize supply chain management, improve maintenance schedules for equipment, and predict equipment failures. In intelligence gathering, AI can be used to analyze large amounts of data from various sources, such as satellite imagery and social media, to identify potential threats and targets. In combat, AI can be used to control unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, as well as assist with decision-making in complex situations. However, it's important to note that the use of AI in the military is a complex and controversial topic, and the development and deployment of AI in military systems is subject to significant ethical, legal, and operational considerations.

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. Two members of the Digital Directorate's Command, Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance division at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, collaborated with personnel from the Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Combat Command to see if real time analytics, or RTA, could act as an assistant to DCGS analysts. "Operational analysts have so much data to look at, and it's coming at them fast and furious," said Dr. Chris "Jake" Jacobson, solutions architect and product owner from ACC. "We wanted to see if we could use RTA to help with that overwhelming amount of data streaming at the analysts." RTA is an open, modular IT platform that acts as a harness to host AI and ML algorithms. Users identified full motion video, or FMV, as an initial area where they thought this could provide benefits.

Twenty IT leaders look into their crystal balls to predict the technologies and trends that will drive the sector in 2020. CIO Australia asked Australian technology bosses about their top line predictions for 2020, the technologies that will have the greatest impact next year, and what top trends will impact the IT and business landscape. Here are the predictions from IT leaders across vendor land to CIOs and CTOs across a host of industries. Intelligent systems (machine learning, artificial intelligence and automation) are the top trends in 2020. Intelligent systems will have a significant impact on increasing situational awareness (insights) and using these insights to enhance decision making – to deliver optimal outcomes for customers.

U.S. spies are no longer being tailed by foreign governments in about 30 different countries because advances in facial recognition, biometrics and artificial intelligence have made it almost impossible for the agents to hide. Whereas governments would once physically follow CIA officers, facial recognition at airports and general CCTV surveillance in those countries makes it far easier to track people. It comes as U.S. intelligence agencies face a growing crisis in intelligence gathering, as developments in technology are making it increasingly more difficult to protect operatives and mask their digital footprints. In one attempt to tackle the crisis, the CIA created a multi-million dollar program called the Station of the Future, intelligence officials revealed to Yahoo News. The program, created over the past decade, was run out of a diplomatic facility in Latin America and involved a team of spies trying to build tools and test techniques that could help the industry battle the digital age.

Presidents have ordered troop surges into Iraq and Afghanistan, and President Trump is applying that strategy in another way. His Feb. 11 executive order requires a surge in research and development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The order requires federal agencies to drive progress on AI through their own research and development and through investing in R&D in the private sector and academia. "Artificial intelligence" and "machine learning" are terms used interchangeably despite the vast difference between them. To analyze where we need to go, we first need to define the terms.

There is huge potential for deep machine learning to become a valuable asset in the intelligence gathering space, according to Pentagon Deputy Secretary Robert Work -- it could ultimately allow U.S. forces to get an edge in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, ISIL, IS) by providing greater insights into their networks and practices. The evaluative capabilities and intelligence gathering promise of deep machine learning, Work said, has already shown great potential through the use of publicly available materials on social media, which paint a clearer picture of the events surrounding the downing of Malaysian passenger airliner MH17. Growing tensions between Russia and China were also discussed as a point of concern around the potential for machines to be given lethal authority and how the U.S. might respond in such a case. "There are two things that really keep me up at night about this competition; the first is adversaries who will give machines lethal authority and how will we respond to that," he said.