With artificial intelligence (AI) on the forefront of emerging technologies, the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II might come to reality. With automated sentries, drones, and unmanned autonomous vehicles, Call of Duty implements AI with near perfect efficiency. Each device in the game has the ability to be self-automated, but they also allow for the device to be controlled remotely. After the game’s initial release, Steve Grundman, a former Pentagon advisor who served under the Department of Defense, commented on how realistic and authentic the game and story is.
Call of Duty‘s storyline involves a terrorist organization amassing a following and investing into quantum computing that surpasses the intelligence capability of the U.S. military, the technology is then used to breach U.S. military infrastructure and, consequently, the terrorist organization is able to use the United States’ forces against itself for an uprising. According to futurologists, the game provides a realistic scenario with which it can foretell unfortunate events that usurp the U.S. government because of the political unrest that currently happening in the Middle East, especially in Iran, and the volatile implementation of AI within our armed forced.
The Rise Of An Empire
In the storyline of the video game, the terrorist organization Cordis Die was formed initially as a political movement to gain a following within North America. The movement’s motives were to fight for the globally impoverished and downtrodden, and to oppose economic inequality. Raul Menendez was proclaimed as the messiah of the movement, and became a key diplomat for third-world countries of political turmoil. With these tactics, the faction was able to reach a following of 2 billion people and gain a vast accessibility to materials.
Similar to Cordis Die, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been gradually increasing its influence around the world. The IRGC was formed in 1979, with the foreign policy to 1) use international initiatives to establish Iranian dominance in the Middle East and Afghanistan, 2) export revolution, and 3) support states that attack enemies of Iran. Iranian leaders have motives to destroy Israel and bring forth their version of Islam as the dominant ideology of the world. As of 2020, the IRGC has around 190,000 active personnel, around 40,000 paramilitary forces, and a budget of $6.9 billion.
In, Black Ops II, Cordis Die is able to acquire a large military branch within its organization. The organization uses mercenaries and ideologically driven militia as its manned fighting force. It also uses as unmanned cognitive land assault weapons and other automated weaponry developed by its weaponry development branch. Alongside weaponry, Cordis Die made significant investments into optical camouflage and Celerium, an element that allows unmatched computational power.
In real life, Iran has partnered with Palestine’s largest and most powerful militia, Hamas. The Iranians support Palestinian-resistance movements inside the state of Israel, and anyone who’s mission is to destroy the state of Israel. In addition to boasting modern-day weaponry, Iranians have been innovating their cyber warfare capabilities. Mimicking technology from the U.S. and allied forces, Iran has upgraded its missile defense system as well its drone reconnaissance capabilities.
Bypassing Their Firewall, and Hacking into the Mainframe
Throughout the storyline of Black Ops II, Cordis Die uses the Celerium to increase its computer data-processing capabilities because of quantum entanglement. Little to no additional information has been discovered regarding the element. A group of engineers working within Cordis Die manipulates the Celerium into a computer virus, that is then uploaded on the USS Barack Obama. The virus attacks U.S. satellites, and thus Menendez is able to control the entire U.S. automated drone fleet.
Despite not having the technological capabilities of Cordis Die, the IRGC has increasing capabilities in cyber warfare. On 5 December 2011, a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was brought down by Iranian forces when the United States was conducting a surveillance patrol over Afghanistan. The IRGC was able to use the GPS systems on the drone to “hijack” its flight path and land it safely at a nearby Iranian air strip. According to Robert Densmore, a former U.S. Navy electronic warfare specialist, modern combat-grade GPS systems on a drone are susceptible to recalibration. This recalibration charts the drone to follow a different flight path. The Iranian military even claimed it had reverse engineered the aircraft into armed replicas. China and Russia soon heard of the incident and requested information about the UAV from Iranian officials.
With the main effort put into attacking the U.S. military, Cordis Die launched a secondary attack that collapsed the Chinese stock market, increasing tensions between the United States and China. The organization took out $1 trillion from the stock market and placed the blame on the United States. It was noted that the collapse was so drastic that the euro increased from a conversion rate of 0.80 euro per U.S. dollar to 3.25 euros per U.S. dollar.
Even if the IRGC have not impacted the stock market considerably or directly, it has made threats and attacks to oil, natural gas, and shipping companies. In May 2019, two Saudi Arabian oil tankers and two commercial ships were “attacked” off of the coast of Fujairah, in the Gulf of Oman. U.S. officials believed the IRGC was to blame, however there was no direct evidence to support this assumption. The officials then stated that a third party, Qatar, must have been used to implement the attack. Earlier in the year, the Iranian government stated that if it could not use the Strait of Hormuz, then it will close it off. The United States implemented sanctions on Iranian oil and deployed warships to escort maritime traffic. The Iranians saw their oil exports were at an all-time low, and Saudi Arabian exports were unaffected and devised a plan to sabotage the Saudi Arabian shipping. This then led to the event above.
Stop Hitting Yourself
After Cordis Die gained control of the U.S. drone fleet, Menendez attacked Los Angeles and planned to kill the Group of 20 leaders in hopes to spread civil and economic chaos. (For some background information, the Group of 20 is an international coalition of countries and members that represent a majority of world commerce and population.) Menendez also used the drones to attack other strategic cities, as well as China. After the initial impacts from the attack, Joint Special Operations Command Forces locate and execute Menendez. After his execution, a video is uploaded with directions from Menendez for Cordis Die to begin the uprising. Cordis Die followers begin a global uprising that leads to the burning of the White House.
Despite no major attacks to this scale made by the IRGC, the threat remains. Previously, Iranian armed forces have hacked U.S. drones repeatedly with relative ease. Therefore, it is possible for them to breach U.S. military infrastructure use U.S. technology against us or our allies.
Some might claim the purpose of Call of Duty is as a source of entertainment rather than a source of realism. To refute this claim, video games have been used by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency to provide information on warfare. An example of this is when the Marine Corps used an altered version of DOOM II to “teach recruits the art and science of war” as stated by Lieutenant Colonel Rick Eisiminger, a team manager of the Modeling and Simulation Office. Another example of video games providing insight into warfare is the game America’s Army, which is used to simulate Marine tactics in military training within a fictional Middle Eastern country. In addition, the U.S. and British armies use Xbox controllers to control drones in the battlefield.
Call of Duty’s scriptwriters work with military liaisons to add a sense of reality to their “Hollywood” game. According to the development company, Sledgehammer, it has worked with Pentagon advisors to transpose scenarios that occurred in real life into a video game’s story. Stories from Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, detailing his experience with the encounter of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, have been implemented into Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s story. Therefore, despite all the Hollywood effects on the game, the scenarios are realistic in accordance to futurologists.
Call of Duty’s storyline is a probability given the issues with IRGC and its ability to compromise U.S. technology. The United States should look to the video game for insight, and proceed with caution as it implements AI into the fleet and in its actions with countries in the Middle East. Who knows if Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will become the next Cordis Die.
“Come my friends. ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world”– Raul Menendez.
