The Pentagon designated its AI a national security threat. Then used it to strike 3,000+ targets in its first week. Nobody's hands are clean.
"The interface matters. When the distance between a human being and a lethal decision is a screen, a cursor, and an approve button, the psychological weight of that decision changes. This is documented. It is why drone operators stationed in Nevada experience PTSD at rates comparable to combat troops who were physically present in the theater of operations. The screen does not protect the operator from the consequences of the decision. It removes the friction that might have produced hesitation before the decision was made."
"Maven is designed specifically to reduce that friction. Its explicit purpose — stated in Pentagon press releases and Palantir investor materials — is to decrease targeting workflow timelines. One unit reported its intelligence-to-target-engagement timeline dropped from hours to minutes. Army leaders stated publicly they were "trying to leverage Maven to meet a new vision for units to make a thousand high-quality decisions — choosing and dismissing targets — in one hour." One thousand decisions per hour. That is not deliberation. That is a video game. And the consequence of each decision is a munition striking a location where human beings are present."