The War for Iran: The First “AI War” in History

# Long Yue

Source: Wallstreetcn

AI has been deployed on a large scale in actual combat for the first time in the military operations by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.

AI technology has improved efficiency in intelligence collection, target selection, mission planning, and battle damage assessment.

However, the cost of AI errors is also extremely high.

The application of AI in warfare still faces risks such as poor data quality, system errors, and over-reliance, which could even lead to severe consequences including civilian casualties.

In the military operations conducted by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, artificial intelligence has been used in large-scale combat for the first time, potentially marking the first "AI war" in history.

According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, the involvement of AI tools has significantly boosted the efficiency of military operations — from intelligence gathering and target selection to mission planning and battle damage assessment.

In the recent conflict, the U.S.-Israeli coalition used AI to process massive volumes of data, rapidly lock in targets, and optimize resource allocation.

Yet beyond efficiency, AI has also brought the cost of errors to the forefront.

Its limitations have been fully exposed in the complex and volatile battlefield environment.

Outdated data, system errors, and over-reliance on machine decisions can lead to catastrophic consequences, even civilian casualties.

## Intelligence Processing: From "Unreadable" to "Searchable"

Military strikes begin with intelligence, but the bottleneck of traditional processes is information overload.

A frontline U.S. military official stated that human analysts can typically review only about 4% of intelligence materials at most.

Colonel Yishai Kohn, responsible for planning, economy, and IT at Israel’s Ministry of Defense, said:

"The biggest immediate impact of AI is on intelligence.

Many potential missions never even happened because there were not enough personnel to assess critical intelligence."

Reports indicate that Israeli intelligence agencies have long monitored hacked traffic cameras in Tehran and intercepted communications of senior officials, increasingly relying on AI to sift usable leads from massive amounts of intercepted information.

AI machine vision can quickly identify targets from vast amounts of video and imagery, even distinguishing specific models of aircraft or vehicles, and extract and summarize relevant conversations from intercepted voice communications.

Matan Goldner, CEO of Israeli software firm Conntour, stated:

"Intelligence agencies already have massive video data, and today’s AI allows them to detect precisely what they need in the sea of data."

## Accelerated Mission Planning: From "Weeks" to "Days"

Beyond intelligence processing, AI has also shown potential in mission planning and logistics management.

Traditional military operation planning requires collaboration among intelligence officers, operational commanders, weapons experts, and logistics managers, often taking weeks to complete.

The introduction of AI is expected to shorten this process to just days.

During planning, a change in any detail — such as a shift in target position — triggers chain reactions affecting crew scheduling, flight plans, and fuel consumption.

In the past, updating these factors was slow and subjective.

Now, AI can instantly process complex interactions and calculate how each change impacts overall military deployment.

The Pentagon is increasingly using AI to run models and digital war games to prioritize targets and develop action plans.

By processing millions of iterative scenarios, planners can quickly identify the pathways most likely to achieve objectives.

## Double-Edged Sword: Efficiency Gains and Hidden Risks

The application of AI in warfare still carries substantial risks, as war is one of the most chaotic and complex areas of human activity.

Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan, the Pentagon’s first AI director, pointed out that a major challenge in building military AI is that much of the data used for training is outdated or insufficiently clear.

Furthermore, errors and inaccuracies in AI systems can have lethal consequences on the battlefield.

U.S. military investigators reportedly believe that a U.S. intelligence error on the first day of the conflict may have killed dozens of children at an Iranian girls’ school.

Even more concerning is over-reliance on AI decision-making.

Emelia Probasco, a senior fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, warned that handing decision-making power to AI is "a serious issue."

She emphasized that proper safeguards must be implemented to limit risks, and investment in infrastructure in this area remains inadequate.

In war, human judgment is irreplaceable.

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