Abstract
The accelerating militarization of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the ethics, politics, and governance of warfare. This article interrogates how AI-driven targeting systems function as epistemic infrastructures that classify, legitimize, and execute violence, using Israel’s conduct in Gaza as a paradigmatic case. Building on interdisciplinary debates in security studies, critical technology studies, and international law, the paper advances the concept of "genocide by algorithm"—a mode of technologically mediated extermination in which opaque computational systems automate and rationalize mass violence. The study argues that these systems collapse distinctions between military and civilian targets, and between intentional and accidental harm, thereby eroding the moral and legal frameworks that govern war. Through the lens of responsibility, the article examines three interrelated dimensions: (a) political responsibility, exploring how states exploit AI to accelerate warfare while evading accountability; (b) professional responsibility, addressing the complicity of technologists, engineers, and defense contractors in the weaponization of data; and (c) personal responsibility, probing the moral agency of individuals who participate in or resist algorithmic governance. This is complemented by an examination of the position and influence of those participating in public discourse, whose narratives often obscure or normalize AI-enabled violence. The Gaza case reveals AI not as a neutral instrument but as an active participant in the reproduction of colonial hierarchies and the normalization of atrocity. Ultimately, the paper calls for a reframing of technological agency and accountability in the age of automated warfare. It concludes that confronting algorithmic violence demands a democratization of AI ethics—one that resists technocratic fatalism and centers the lived realities of those most affected by high-tech militarism.
First Page
4
Last Page
37
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.20.1.2074
Recommended Citation
Radeljić, Branislav
(2026)
"Genocide by Algorithm in Gaza: Artificial Intelligence, Countervailing Responsibility, and the Corruption of Public Discourse,"
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal:
Vol. 20:
Iss.
1:
4–37.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.20.1.2074
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol20/iss1/4
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