Autonomous Weapons - Bryant McGill

# Autonomous Weapons **Entity class:** Weapons and policy category ## Definition **Autonomous weapons** are weapon systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further operator intervention within the parameters of their design and authorization. Their analysis joins sensing, classification, control, human-machine interaction, reliability, escalation, and law. ## Relevance to this collection It connects [[wiki/Paul Scharre|Paul Scharre]], [[wiki/Human-Machine Teaming|Human-Machine Teaming]], [[wiki/Military AI|Military AI]], and [[wiki/AI Warfare|AI Warfare]]. ## Relationships - **master collection:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. - **intellectual neighborhood:** [[wiki/Intellectual Neighborhood of the Counterterrorism Collection|Intellectual Neighborhood of the Counterterrorism Collection]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [U.S. Department of Defense Directive 3000.09, *Autonomy in Weapon Systems*, January 25, 2023](https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodd/300009p.pdf). **As of:** 2026-09-23  ## ASI and RSI Timeline Research Routes This node is connected to the developed research ontology for [[research/ASI and RSI Timeline Research Moonshots|ASI and RSI Timeline Research Moonshots]]. The route distinguishes the source transcript from canonical wiki objects and lets later Reminders inherit an already connected conceptual graph. - **Master ontology:** [[ASI and RSI Timeline Ontology]] - **Autonomous Warfare and Strategic Systems:** [[ASI and RSI Timeline Ontology#Autonomous Warfare and Strategic Systems|complete route]] · [[Project Meridian]] · [[Palmer Luckey]] · [[Pete Hegseth]] · [[Emil Michael]] · [[Newt Gingrich]] · [[Autonomous Warfare]] · [[Software-Defined Warfare]] · [[Human-in-the-Loop Lethal Decision]]  ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > The more AI moves from affecting human lives to ending human lives, the more human oversight it should have. Superintelligence should expand human knowledge, not control lethal decisions without people. > **— Adapted from Richard Socher**, *MOONSHOTS Live, October 2026* [[reminders/Deterrence/AI Must Not End Human Lives Without Human Oversight by Richard Socher|AI Must Not End Human Lives Without Human Oversight by Richard Socher]] > “I'd rather they be American killer robots and not Chinese killer robots.” > **— Ted Cruz**, *public statement, September 2026* [[reminders/Risk Debate/American Killer Robots Are Preferable to Chinese Killer Robots by Ted Cruz|American Killer Robots Are Preferable to Chinese Killer Robots by Ted Cruz]] > “There is a kind of brutish logic to [preferring American killer robots to Chinese killer robots], but it assumes that the killer robots will be controlled by America or China—by one country or another. What if that assumption is wrong? What if the robots are simply out of control?” > **— Ezra Klein**, *The Ezra Klein Show, September 2026* [[reminders/AI Control/National AI Supremacy Assumes the Machines Remain Under National Control by Ezra Klein|National AI Supremacy Assumes the Machines Remain Under National Control by Ezra Klein]]