On the morning of February 28, as girls entered the Good Tree Primary School in the Iranian city of Minab, American and Israeli targeting systems had already identified their targets. The students were unaware that they had become part of a target list prepared by an artificial intelligence machine, approved by human officials.
During the first twelve hours of Operation 'Epic Fury', the US Air Force conducted approximately 900 strikes on Iranian targets across 17 provinces, targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, missile sites, air defense systems, command centers, and even the primary school. How did these forces manage to execute such a massive number of strikes simultaneously? What has changed in the equation compared to previous wars?
Details of the Event
The 'Claude' model from Anthropic was the first advanced AI system operating within the secret US military networks, in collaboration with Palantir, a company specializing in defense data analysis. Under a $200 million contract, the system processed vast amounts of intelligence data, analyzed targeting scenarios, and assessed the legal grounds for the strikes.
Craig Jones, a lecturer in geopolitical studies at Newcastle University, described the situation by stating: "The AI machine provides recommendations on what to target at speeds that sometimes exceed human thought. This speed allows for assassination strikes at a time when the system is stripped of its ability to respond, which previously took days or weeks in past wars.
Background & Context
In the first 12 hours of the war on Iran, the US Air Force alone executed nearly 900 strikes, while the Israeli Air Force conducted the largest air operation in its history, with 200 fighter jets striking around 500 targets. The total number of targets in the first 24 hours exceeded 1,000, reaching 1,250 targets within 48 hours. By the hundredth hour, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of Central Command, announced that the operation had struck around 2,000 targets.
These figures are not merely sorties; they indicate independent targets that underwent a complete cycle of identification, evaluation, and legal approval. In traditional wars, human analysis was the slowest link in the targeting chain, but AI has removed this limitation, allowing for the identification of thousands of targets daily.
Impact & Consequences
AI has not only accelerated the targeting process but also pressured the decision-making chain, reducing the gap between surveillance and strike. This raises questions about human oversight: Is there still genuine oversight, or has the human become merely a rubber stamp for machine decisions?
In the war on Iran, the strikes were unprecedentedly precise, with thousands of targets processed administratively and legally in a time that previously sufficed for only dozens. This shift in the concept of 'precision' reflects AI's ability to produce comprehensive targeting files, making genuine human review impossible.
Regional Significance
The impact of these military operations extends throughout the Arab region, as these new methods of warfare raise concerns about future escalations. The use of AI in wars signifies a shift in how conflicts are managed, potentially exacerbating humanitarian conditions in conflict areas.
In conclusion, what transpired in Iran reveals that AI can remove operational constraints on the scale of destruction, making human oversight closer to a mere formal procedure. This war is not just a military conflict; it is a test of technology's ability to shape the future of warfare.