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Comment by culi | Hacker News Reader

Palantir's Maven system integrates LLM models in decision making for identifying targets. It was using Claude when it identified targets in Iran, including the Minab elementary school

> Two sources confirmed to NBC News that Palantir’s AI systems, which draw in part on large language model technology, were used to identify targets. (Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, said he “can’t go into specifics” when asked about this on CNBC, but said that Claude was still integrated into Palantir’s systems used in the Iran war.)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/mar/...

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This had nothing much to do with AI in particular though. The issue was that there had previously been a military installation at the same location, but the US military did not update its database. Apparently, one analyst had flagged the issue for review in 2019, but that was never done before the strike.

The point is that the same thing could have happened just as easily if you had selected targets based on the faulty data by any other means than an AI model.

Sounds like you're saying the bar for bombing children should be "someone else could have made this mistake"

I disagree. It’s possible that AI removed more people from the chain and that more human involvement could have prevented it from happening.

No, the reports specifically mention that the AI target selection pipeline drastically increased the workload and expectations of the humans in the loop, leading to spending far less time on deciding whether to attack, iirc a few seconds per targeting decision.

Of course some overworked analyst is going to start neglecting the details and erring on the side of bomb it if the AI summary is dangerous sounding.

It’s gross negligence to be offloading this type of analysis to claude. Do you decide what’s factual based on the google AI summary? They’re deciding to end thousands of lives with about the same amount of rigor, including those schoolchildren. Have some humanity.

No. The point is that people are using AI for this, which was the question your parent comment was answering.

Humans select the wrong targets, computer select the wrong targets. It’s just that people really don’t care unless it’s hurting their bottom line.

That's no excuse. The US has 161 public schools on military bases, more than any other country.

The Minab elementary school was painted in pastels and had prominent murals on the play area.

If anything, your comment just highlights how much this has to do with AI. When "outdated data" can lead to 168 dead schoolchildren, you can really see the consequences of relying on AI for decision making.

The elementary school built where a military facility was previously located...

No, even google maps knew it wasn't a military site anymore. I guess schools near american bases are fair gane according to you?

You act like we intentionally targeted a school. We didn't. We targeted a military facility that was in the exact location the school was in. Check the NYT analysis of it

There was a _school_ in thee exact location the school was in. Besides, when the expectation was to leave most of target selection to automated systems, one could arguably say that there was intentional targeting, due to the lack of human oversight.

"But the AI did it!" -- never did, never will, it cannot have agency, AGI is a lie, etc etc.

once upon a time you would have complained about cannons being used instead of good ol' arrows and swords. Get with the times. AI in war is inevitable and it never going to go away

Get with the times. Nukes and chemical weapons in war is inevitable and never going away

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