May 09, 2018
Autonomous Weapons or “Killer Robots”: The Next Threat to World Peace?
Our guest is Paul Scharre, a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s the director of the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. He’s written a book about the future of warfare- called Army of None.
Nations around the world are racing to build a variety of autonomous lethal weapons, with global spending on military robotics estimated to reach $7.5 billion this year. But what happens when a Predator drone has as much autonomy as a self-driving car? A growing chorus of voices are warning of the danger of autonomous weapons that could hunt for and destroy targets all on their own.
Listen to this podcast and more at WMNF
More from CNAS
-
Technology & National Security
AI, Trust, and the Future of WarfareLieutenant General John (Jack) N.T. Shanahan, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, helped shape the Department of Defense...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | Governing Jailbreak IncidentsIn June 2026, Anthropic publicly released Claude Fable 5, a restricted version of its highly cyber-capable Mythos model. Within days, reports reached U.S. officials that resea...
By Ben Hayum
-
Technology & National Security
Closing the Remote Access LoopThis article was originally published in Issues in Science and Technology. As Asad Ramzanali argues in “Why the Cloud Needs Competition” (Issues, Winter 2026), cloud computing...
By Michelle Nie
-
Technology & National Security
Losing the War of the FutureThis article was originally published in Foreign Affairs. In its recent campaign against Iran, the United States dominated the skies using its traditional airpower. The U.S. m...
By Paul Scharre