Research Interests

Counter–terrorism, Artificial Intelligence, Social media and extremism, Human rights, International Humanitarian law, Israel-Palestine

Background & Qualification

Adv. Nery Ramati is a PhD candidate at Dublin City University, School of Law and Government. He is an IRC Doctoral Fellow and has been awarded the Andrew Grene Postgraduate Scholarship in Conflict Resolution. Prior to his PhD research Adv. Ramati was a Vox-Pol Research Fellow in DCU conducting research on the impact of counter-terrorism legislation on the right to privacy and freedom of speech. In his legal career Adv Ramati was a partner in Gaby Lasky and Partners Law Office, a leading human rights office in Israel, specializing in freedom of expression and protest. He has represented Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights and anti-occupation activists in the military and civil courts.

Research Overview

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already present in a variety of ways in our daily lives. One of the fields where AI is growing expediently is counter-terrorism. The need to identify the next terror attack prior to its execution, combined with the terrorists’ need to use online communications in order to spread their ideology, recruit and plan, has made AI a perfect tool for attempting to identify patterns that will lead to the prevention of the next attack. In parallel to the advancement of these AI tools, there are major concerns on the possible harm and societal impact this use of such AI tools could lead to.

This research will examine the use of such a tool by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA). In the year 2016, the ISA launched predictive AI technology, based on a model that presumably identified potential terror attackers prior to the attack, based on recent changes in their online activity. The research will examine the AI model and the impact of the counter-terrorism measures that were initiated following the AI recommendations, on individuals and on Palestinian society.

Supervisors:

Prof. Maura Conway.