The New Face of War
In the past, war was fought on the ground with soldiers and weapons. Today, war is increasingly fought with data, algorithms, and machines that never sleep. Artificial Intelligence is now one of the most powerful forces shaping modern warfare. From drones that fly without pilots to software that scans thousands of signals to find a single target, AI is being used to predict, track, and execute decisions faster than ever before.
And in 2025, we are seeing its impact unfold in real time.
Israel and Iran: The High-Tech Battlefield
The latest escalation between Israel and Iran has highlighted the full scope of AI-enabled warfare.
In June 2025, Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, reportedly used autonomous drone teams inside Iranian territory to destroy missile launch sites. These drones were not just remote-controlled—they were operating with AI support to identify and eliminate high-value targets with minimal delay. Surveillance data, facial recognition, and behavior prediction were all part of the operation.
Backed by AI-powered targeting systems like “Lavender” and “Gospel” Israel has been using algorithms to process intercepted communications, movement patterns, and satellite imagery. These systems generate recommended strike lists. In the past, analysts would take weeks to study such data. Now, AI cuts that time down to minutes.
During the 2023–2025 war in Gaza, similar AI-driven systems were used to identify suspected civilians and militant homes. Reports suggest the Israeli military launched hundreds of strikes each day using these tools. Critics argue that the speed and scale led to high civilian casualties, with algorithms recommending targets faster than humans could verify them.
How AI Works in Military Systems
At the core of these systems is pattern recognition. AI tools are trained on vast datasets: past movements, voice samples, heat signatures, and even social media activity.
These tools are used for:
- Target detection: Recognizing vehicles, buildings, or individuals from drone footage
- Signal analysis: Filtering massive communication networks to find a key phone call
- Language translation: Using natural language processing to transcribe and understand foreign communications
- Behavior prediction: Forecasting likely movements of enemy forces
- Command decision-making: Suggesting tactical actions based on incoming battlefield data
Platforms like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud provide the infrastructure. The algorithms come from private companies under military contracts, such as Scale AI, Palantir, and others.
The Ethical Alarm
AI is fast and scalable. But war is a space where mistakes cost lives.
One major concern is the loss of human judgment. When a machine flags a house as a threat based on data, should that be enough to justify a strike? When a facial recognition system is 95% accurate, what happens in the other 5% of cases?
We are entering a phase where “decisions” are not fully made by humans. Instead, humans are confirming what a machine recommends. The more accurate these machines become, the more we trust them. But trust does not mean perfection.
In Gaza, critics and human rights observers have raised serious concerns about the use of AI in high-casualty areas. They argue that AI does not understand context, only probability. A family home may be flagged because of a single phone call or a heat signature, even if no clear threat exists. And because these systems are often classified, oversight is minimal.
The Toolish Take
At Toolish, we follow the progress of AI with hope, but also with deep caution.
AI can help save lives. It can prevent attacks, protect soldiers, and detect threats more quickly than ever before. But it can also be misused. It can be weaponized in ways that remove responsibility from humans. And when that happens, we lose a key part of what makes warfare at least somewhat human: accountability.
We ask:
- Who writes the code that chooses a target?
- Who is responsible when the code makes a mistake?
- And how can we make sure that ethics move as fast as the technology?
This is not just about geopolitics. It’s about the future of AI and the role it plays in our societies. Let’s stay aware, stay informed, and never forget: technology should serve humanity not replace its conscience.
– Toolish