Few people actually want to witness a war or see an ongoing conflict between multiple nations. With the Iran ceasefire currently in place at the time of writing, perhaps we’re finally going to see the end of one of the world’s many ongoing battles. It also presents a chance to reflect on what’s happened, particularly with an eye on the technology behind this war. There have been a few “firsts” during this conflict, which could teach us a lot about what the future looks like and how different things are now compared to wars of the past. 

To the untrained eye, this conflict looks similar to any other – it’s a case of back-and-forth attacks from both sides on either critical infrastructure or military equipment. But dig a bit deeper, and you find all sorts of technology powering the decisions behind this conflict. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, AI is at the heart of it all. 

AI-Powered Decision Making

There’s an extremely detailed guide by Defense Innovation Review that explains the operational integration of AI in military decision-making. What’s interesting about that guide is that it was written a mere week or so before the Iran conflict kicked off. Some of the things it touched upon included AI uses in: 

• Processing complex algorithms and analyzing data
• Making recommendations for military personnel to overlook
• Providing real-time alerts and monitoring

Fast forward to today, and we’ve seen this in action during the US-Iran conflict. It’s played out in front of our very eyes, yet most of us won’t ever know that AI was responsible for a lot of the decisions made. Artificial intelligence is being used to gather so much data for the military, sort through all of it, and provide suggestions based on forecasts and predicted outcomes. It’s not as severe as deciding and automatically activating air strikes – but AI has been used to suggest the best or worst places to launch a strike based on the strategic pros and cons. 

It’s even found uses in a more supportive sense, as revealed in an NPR interview that explained how AI helps military personnel decide where to send support ahead of time. Again, it can use predictive models to assess a situation and determine where to provide the most support resources. Whether this comes in the form of supply drops or more manpower – the system suggests what works best. 

Humans Still Have The Final Say

Despite the obvious use of AI within this conflict, many people close to the war suggest that humans still have the final say. Of course, we’re just going to have to believe that is the case – some skeptics already believe that the bombing of a girl’s school in Iran was down to AI intel, rather than human information. 

For now, military personnel are very quick to say that AI is simply a tool that they use like anyone else. Some of the main reasons for AI adoption in warfare are that it can: 

• Help to predict the next steps before humans on the other side can react
• Come up with decisions or ideas in seconds rather than hours/days

It does seem rather incredible that the military is treating AI like someone trying to do their tax return. Should this type of technology be allowed to have such a massive say in major global conflicts? The jury’s still out on how people feel about this – some believe it’s a good idea as AI could help save lives or shorten conflicts. Who’s to know how much longer this conflict would’ve gone on without agreeing to a temporary ceasefire if AI wasn’t used? 

Like all AI use cases, it has pros and cons – but it also will only ever work if humans stay involved. They seem to be for now, but hopefully this isn’t a sign of a world where future wars are decided entirely on AI. 

The Second Drone War

Military experts have been calling the Russia-Ukraine conflict the First Drone War since it started. This was the first instance of both sides calling upon drone strikes instead of sending real human beings in jets to drop payloads. The US-Iran conflict has followed this up as the Second Drone War – and it definitely shows what the future of warfare looks like. 

Again, AI plays a massive role in powering drones and making the technology better and smarter than ever before. Drones can now map out sites and deliver more accuracy because of the AI tech built into them. At the same time, we’re also seeing new developments in drone technology from both Iran and the US. 

Instead of drones that take to the sky, we’ve seen unmanned boats and ships that sail across water. They’re filled with payloads and are used to target other boats or naval equipment – such as hidden mines, etc. 

The Future Of Global Warfare

We can learn many things from this ongoing conflict, particularly regarding the future of global warfare. It seems like this is the sign of a massive shift towards AI and remote warfare. There’s less of a demand for sending troops to fight on the frontlines – it’s more of a staggered approach. Militaries rely on their AI systems and drones to help establish dominance early on before sending in the troops. The overall goal is to reduce casualties on your side, though could this lead to more innocent casualties on the whole? 

It’s also increasingly likely that countries will invest heavily in artificial intelligence after this conflict. In the past, it was all about having the biggest and most effective weapons or military equipment, but now you’ll add AI to the list. Whoever can develop AI to be the most effective wartime tool will have an upper hand during any conflict. For now, we can only hope that the ceasefire continues and a healthy end to any aggression allows both countries to settle. The same goes for any wars across the world – they are rarely just, and life would be better for everyone without so much conflict.