AI-Driven Warfare in Iran Conflict Highlights 'Algorithmic Slaughter' and Ethical Void

On Saturday, February 28, a US airstrike hit the Shajareh Tayyibeh (Beautiful Tree) Primary School in the southern Iranian city of Minab at 10:45 AM local time.

The US bombing killed 170 girls and injured nearly 95 students and teachers. As local residents and rescue teams rushed to the scene following the initial attack, they were targeted by another bomb while extracting the wounded from the rubble.  

Most of the 170 girls killed in the school were between 7 and 12 years old.

When asked by journalists why they bombed a primary school in Iran, US President Donald Trump responded, 'We did not know there was a school there; do not ask me such questions.'

Ten years ago, the location of the school was a military compound belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Even after the school was separated from the military compound and erected its own wall, the failure of the AI's data system to update development over the last decade resulted in the girls and teachers becoming victims of 'digital genocide' or, perhaps, 'algorithmic warfare'.

This incident marks a significant turning point as the US and Israeli war against Iran enters its second week, clearly illustrating how the use of AI in warfare is making the conflict increasingly horrific and tragic.  

Palantir primarily excels at integrating and analyzing data worldwide. However, this company works in conjunction with US and Israeli military agencies in their interest. The company's ultimate goal is to strengthen the US military network and make money.  

The attack on that school in Minab utilized AI-operated 'swarm drones' and 'loitering munitions.' Specifically, this AI weapon, similar to the advanced AI version of the US-made 'Switchblade 600' or the Israeli 'Harpy,' identifies and attacks its target without human direction.

In modern warfare, AI selects the target, locks on, and chooses the weapon for bombardment. Observing this war closely feels like more than just a clip from a video game. The US and Israel are conducting the war against Iran under 'Project Maven' (Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team) and the 'Target Factory' system.

The New Grammar of War

Strategic experts have termed the current stage of modern military history as 'Algorithmic Warfare.' This is a form of combat where Artificial Intelligence (AI) not only provides information but also makes the final decision on who to kill and when to kill them.  

The technology being used by the US and Israel in the Iran war was tested on the battlefields of Gaza and Ukraine. And the American technology company Palantir Technologies plays a significant role in this.  

Palantir primarily excels at integrating and analyzing data worldwide. However, this company works in conjunction with US and Israeli military agencies in their interest. The company's ultimate goal is to strengthen the US military network and make money.  

According to the journal Nature, AI played the role of 'distributed intelligence' for the first time in the Ukraine war. There, software from the US company Palantir tracked Russian troop movements using satellite imagery and Telegram messages, providing real-time information to the Ukrainian army.  

However, an even crueler form of this was used by Israel in Gaza. According to revelations from Israel's +972 Magazine and BBC investigative reporting, Israel used an AI system named 'Lavender' in Gaza. This system listed over 90,000 Palestinians as potential combatants.  

This system had an error rate of over 10 percent, yet it was used as a 'killing machine.'

Another system, 'The Gospel,' was used in Gaza. This system began identifying one hundred new targets per day, whereas previously, humans could identify fifty targets in a week.  

As mentioned by The Guardian newspaper, these successful tests conducted in Gaza and Ukraine now form the main strategic basis for the US and Israel in the Iran war. This has transformed the war into an automated 'target factory.'

'Speed of Thought' and 'Hyperwar'

The technology currently being used in the war against Iran is termed 'Hyperwar' by military strategists. This is a situation where the speed of war is many times faster than human decision-making capacity.  

According to a special report by The Wall Street Journal, 'How AI Is Turbocharging the War in Iran,' the US 'Project Maven' and Israel's 'Advanced AI Integration' have accelerated the war beyond the 'speed of thought.'

When AI tracks Iran's underground missile silos or military leadership, it processes thousands of data points in a second.  

A report from Al Jazeera states that, as confirmed by US military officials, AI identifies targets in Iran and independently decides which weapon is appropriate to destroy them. In this process, military officials are limited to the role of 'supervisor.'

Analysis by The AI Innovator shows that AI has studied Iran's 'digital footprint' so deeply that it can classify someone as a 'threat' the moment they turn on a phone or drive a car.  

According to research papers published in Nature and the International Committee of the Red Cross, AI is programmed to consider a certain number of civilian deaths as 'acceptable.' For example, if a high-ranking Iranian commander is to be killed, the AI is permitted to kill up to one hundred innocent civilians around them.  

This has given warfare an unprecedented speed in human history. The use of technology in war is so rapid that drones and missiles are capable of turning targets into rubble before the opposing forces can react.  

However, civilians are paying the highest price for the speed seen in this war. This is because there is no room for 'discretion' or 'mercy' in decisions made by machines. Furthermore, it does not adhere to the minimum values of humanity. All these attacks are carried out by AI, or machines.  

Mathematical Genocide

The most terrifying aspect of AI-fought wars is the 'mathematical scientification' of civilian deaths. The Guardian and the BBC explain the tragedy unfolding in Iran using the example of Gaza.  

Terms like 'Where is Daddy?' and software are used in AI systems, which signal an attack only when a military target is at home with family. This means AI deliberately targets residential buildings to prevent the target from escaping.  

According to research papers published in Nature and the International Committee of the Red Cross, AI is programmed to consider a certain number of civilian deaths as 'acceptable.' For example, if a high-ranking Iranian commander is to be killed, the AI is permitted to kill up to one hundred innocent civilians around them.  

This is not an accident; it is the mathematical calculation of 'collateral damage' performed by AI.  

As noted by US News, when cheap drones and autonomous weapons used in Iran attack crowded urban areas, the machine cannot distinguish between soldiers and civilians. When AI seeks an 'optimized path,' it only looks at its percentage of success.  

The value of the lives of the people being killed is nowhere included in its algorithm. As a result, Iranian cities have turned into AI slaughterhouses for American military AI laboratories. Humans may understand the value of blood, but machines do not.  

'Automation Bias' and Moral Collapse

A major problem has emerged in military psychology called 'automation bias.' Reports from Jacobin and Al Jazeera indicate that US and Israeli commanders involved in the Iran war do not dare to challenge the AI's decisions.  

Once the AI identifies a building as an 'enemy headquarters,' commanders spend only about 20 to 30 seconds confirming it. In other words, the decision to kill civilians on Iranian soil is made by US military officers sitting at a dashboard in just 20 seconds.  

In such a short time, no military officer attempts to supervise and find the machine's analysis to be incorrect. Conversely, many targets are set up so that military commanders do not even need to give a decision; the AI identifies and destroys those targets on its own.  

According to research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, even the engineers who build the AI do not know how and on what basis the AI selects an 'enemy.' This is known as the 'black box' error.  

The 'rule of the algorithm' seen in Iran, Gaza, and Ukraine shows that military officers, the engineers who write its code, and the rulers eager to wage war are all helpless before AI. A war fought by holding discretion hostage is putting humanity itself in jeopardy.  

In many incidents in Iran, AI has attacked farmers carrying tools, mistaking them for rocket launchers, or toys, mistaking them for explosives.  

Furthermore, AI warfare has created a situation of humanitarian collapse. In other words, this is called the 'accountability gap.' According to Human Rights Watch and UN experts, if AI mistakenly destroys a school or hospital, who is to blame? The engineer who wrote the code for the AI? The soldier who pressed the button? Or the inanimate machine itself? Or the head of state who ordered the war?  

The horrific scenes of civilian casualties seen in the Iran war are the result of this legal and ethical vacuum. The machine kills thousands of human bodies, but no one takes responsibility.  

A Grim Mirror of the Future

The use of AI in the Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran wars has brought the world to an era where the sanctity of war has completely ended.  

The Guardian has called this the 'end of human empathy.' AI has made warfare so mechanical and devoid of human consciousness that it seems powerful nations no longer value a single life on the battlefield as anything more than a number.  

According to The Wall Street Journal, AI has transformed Iran's entire military structure into one massive 'data point,' where the value of a human life is no more than a bit and a byte.  

This war is not just a power struggle between Iran and the US-Israel; it is a terrifying picture of the future where AI can be seen deciding the fate of human existence.  

If the international community does not ban 'killer robots' and AI weapons, there is a warning that future wars will not only be between two armies but between machines, with humans being crushed and killed in the process.  

The 'rule of the algorithm' seen in Iran, Gaza, and Ukraine shows that military officers, the engineers who write its code, and the rulers eager to wage war are all helpless before AI. A war fought by holding discretion hostage is putting humanity itself in jeopardy.