April 24, 2018
Autonomous Weapons Would Take Warfare To A New Domain, Without Humans
Killer robots have been a staple of TV and movies for decades, from Westworldto The Terminator series. But in the real world, killer robots are officially known as "autonomous weapons."
At the Pentagon, Paul Scharre helped create the U.S. policy for such weapons. In his new book, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, Scharre discusses the state of these weapons today.
"Killer robots" might be a bit sensational, he says, but what he's talking about is a weapon that could "go out on its own and make its own decisions about who to kill on the battlefield."
At least 30 countries have autonomous weapons that are supervised by humans for defensive purposes, Scharre says.
Read the full article at NPR
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Look Before We Leap on Artificial IntelligenceThis article was originally published on The Dispatch. A debate about the role that artificial intelligence should and will play in society, and how it will affect humanity fo...
By Jon B. Wolfsthal
-
Podcast
Technology & National Security
Caleb Withers on the Cybersecurity Frontier in the Age of AICaleb Withers, research associate at the Center for a New American Security, joins Kevin Frazier, the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law and...
By Caleb Withers
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
Prepared, Not ParalyzedExecutive Summary The Trump administration has embraced a pro-innovation approach to artificial intelligence (AI) policy. Its AI Action Plan, released July 2025, underscores t...
By Janet Egan, Spencer Michaels & Caleb Withers
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Technology & National Security
Sharper: Tech + ChinaRecent talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping placed a spotlight on emerging technologies, from high-end chips to minera...
By Charles Horn & Sevi Silvia
