IT lesson from the Iran war: AI makes your data problems so much worse

""Officers at U.S. Central Command created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Military targeting is very complex and involves multiple agencies. Many officers would have been responsible for verifying that the data is correct, and officers at Central Command are responsible for checking the information they receive from the Defense Intelligence Agency or another intelligence agency. But in a fast-moving situation, like the opening days of a war, information is sometimes not verified.""

""The investigation shows that AI is not to blame for the school bombing; the error came from faulty data and people who didn't verify it. The school appeared in Iranian business listings. It was visible on Google Maps. A search engine could have easily identified it as a school, yet the outdated intelligence led to a tragic mistake.""

Enterprises have long faced challenges with bad data, stemming from outdated systems and unverified information. The US military's bombing of a school in Iran illustrates the severe consequences of relying on inaccurate data. The incident, which resulted in numerous casualties, was attributed to outdated intelligence that failed to reflect the building's current use. AI systems, while powerful, can amplify these data problems if the underlying information is not accurate or verified, highlighting the critical need for data integrity in decision-making processes.

Read at Computerworld