Yahya Sinwar, the previous leader of the militant organization Hamas, was killed by the Israeli military within the southern Gaza town of Rafah in October 2024. Given the role Sinwar played within the planning and execution of the October 7 terrorist attack, in addition to his own role in the event of Hamas's military wing, his assassination was seen as a potentially landmark victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu viewed.
But on all sides of the conflict, the talk quickly turned to the results of his death. Would it change the political possibilities for an answer to the Gaza war? And wouldn’t it transform him into an iconic martyr, inspiring latest generations of militants?
My research and teaching at Lancaster University develops what may be called “war futurism.” It examines the possible future that lies ahead, in times that might be dramatically and unpredictablely shaped by AI, climate emergencies, space wars and the technological transformation of the “cyborg” body.
In 2023 I even have wrote a book titled “Theorizing Future Conflict: War Out to 2049.” It featured a fictional scenario involving a pacesetter of a terrorist organization who was supposedly created by AI to create a robust figurehead for a gaggle that was losing leaders to drone strikes.
Sinwar's death got me pondering again about what the age of generative AI tools might mean for strategic pondering and planning in organizations which are losing key leaders.
Will real life soon see a situation where dead leaders are replaced by AI tools that would create virtual characters that flow into via deepfake videos and online interactions? And could they be utilized by members of the organization for strategic and political guidance?
Yahya Arhab / EPA
American cyberpunk creator Rudy Rucker has previously written about the opportunity of producing what he calls ” “Life Box”where a human might be simulated in digital worlds. Films equivalent to the US science fiction thriller “Transcendence” from 2014 also take care of the chance that folks can “upload” their consciousness into digital worlds.
Rucker's idea isn’t a lot about uploading consciousness. Instead, it involves making a simulation of an individual based on a big database of what they wrote, did and said.
In his 2021 novel Juicy ghostsIn his book, Rucker examines the moral and economic problems that would arise when people create life boxes from which they will proceed to live after their death. These range from how you may pay on your digital “life” after death as to if you possibly can control how your lifebox may be used.
The age of digital immortality
The possibility of an AI-powered Lifebox in the long run isn’t that far-fetched. Technological change is happening at a rapid pace Tools exist already use AI for strategic planning and leadership.
We are already getting a way of the moral, legal and strategic challenges that will lie ahead Concern in regards to the surroundings using AI tools by the Israeli military within the war in Gaza. In November, for instance claimed the military It used an AI-based system called – which implies “the gospel” in English – to “create targets at a rapid pace.”
It goes without saying that using AI to discover and pursue goals may be very different from using it to create a digital leader. But given the present pace of technological innovation, it isn’t implausible to assume that a pacesetter in the long run will develop an AI identity after his death based on the history books that influenced him, the events he experienced, or the strategies and missions he was involved in. Emails and social media posts is also used to coach the AI while creating the leader's simulation.
If the AI simulation works sensibly and convincingly, it could even change into the leader of the organization. In some cases, it could make political sense to defer to the AI leader, because the non-human, virtual leader will be held answerable for strategic or tactical errors.
It is also that the AI leader can think beyond human origins and has significantly improved strategic, organizational and technical skills and talents. This is an area that’s already being considered by scientists. The Nobel Turing Challenge For example, the initiative is working to develop an autonomous AI system that may conduct Nobel Prize-winning research by 2050 and beyond.
Of course, a virtual political or terrorist leader is currently only a scenario from a cyberpunk film or novel. But how long will it take for leaders to experiment with the brand new possibilities of digital immortality?
It might be that somewhere within the Kremlin, one in every of the various projects Putin is developing in preparation for his death is research into an AI life box that would function a guide for Russian leaders who follow him. He could also research technologies that may allow him to “upload” right into a latest body on the time of his demise.
Marzufello / Shutterstock
This might be not the case. Regardless, strategic AI tools are more likely to be utilized in the long run – the query might be who gets to design and shape (and potentially inhabit) them. There are also more likely to be limits to the political and organizational significance of dead executives.
There are concerns that hackers could manipulate and sabotage the AI leader. There might be a way of insecurity that AI is being manipulated through influence and subversion operations in ways in which destroy all trust within the digital “ghosts” that exist after death. There might be a priority that AI will develop its own political and strategic desires.
And it may perhaps be that these attempts at AI immortality might be seen as an unnecessary and unhelpful obstacle by those replacing figures like Sinwar and Putin. The immortal leader could simply remain a technological fantasy of narcissistic politicians who need to live without end.
