Yeah, I don't know who sprinkled AI on this. There's plenty to talk about around unexpected escalation around Ukraine, Taiwan, Gaza, and so on without adding that.
I don't see a runaway AI itself causing the conflict but I could see AI easily fanning the flames. Think both AI tools such as completely fake viral footage of war atrocities and other propaganda to win over public opinion and AI consequences such as massive unemployment causing internal problems and stoking the conditions for either internal or external war.
Alternatively and even more twisted, I could see someone scapegoating a runaway AI to start the conflict - "it wasn't us that attacked first, it was the AI malfunctioning, we're the good guys but they won't listen to us so we have to fight them now"
