The war in Iran is emerging as a turning point in modern conflict, becoming the first major conflict reliant on artificial intelligence.

Experts warn machines are moving into roles once held by humans — including decisions that can determine life or death.

Professor Toby Walsh, an artificial intelligence expert at the University of New South Wales, says the war highlights a dramatic shift in how battles are fought.

“What we’re seeing in this current conflict is decisions being handed to machines,” Walsh said. “We’re going to look back and think, this was the critical turning point.”

Advanced systems such as Claude, developed by Anthropic, are being used to rapidly analyse intelligence and speed up the military “kill chain” — cutting the time it takes to identify and strike targets from hours or days to seconds.

But with few global rules governing AI warfare, experts warn the technology may be advancing faster than the laws designed to control it.