Two questions have shaped strategic debate since Feb. 28. Was Operation Epic Fury the first artificial intelligence war in history - a genuine break from every previous conflict - or merely the largest application of technologies militaries have been using for decades?

And if it was the first AI war, does it mark a revolution in military affairs (RMA), or simply a faster version of the precision warfare the world first saw in the Gulf War of 1991? Twenty-nine days of combat have produced precise answers to both. Yes, and yes - but the revolution is not yet complete. 

The question whether this was the first AI war requires a precise answer, not a rhetorical one.

AI has been present in warfare for decades. GPS-guided bombs achieved precision warfare in 1991. The Predator drone used pattern recognition in 2001. Logistics algorithms have assisted inventory management since the 2010s. In every one of those cases, AI was a tool at a specific node of the military process. A human still received the intelligence, made the targeting decision, authorized the strike and assessed the damage. The human planning cycle remained the binding constraint on operational tempo.