Jascha Bareis, a political scientist from the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, discusses the fascinating dualities of autonomous weapons. He highlights how these technologies blur boundaries between human action and machine decisions in warfare. The conversation delves into the psychological impacts, exploring how popular narratives like *Terminator* influence military planning. Bareis also emphasizes the urgent need for meaningful human control and the ethical dilemmas posed by rapid advancements in autonomous warfare technology.
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insights INSIGHT
Definitions Shape Perception And Policy
Definitions of autonomous weapons vary wildly between states and forums, blending technical and sci‑fi claims.
Bareis argues this conflation demands cross‑disciplinary analysis to clarify what these systems actually are.
insights INSIGHT
Secrecy Shifts From States To Private Firms
Autonomous weapons carry secrecy and national strategic value similar to past breakthrough military tech.
Bareis notes private firms now drive development, shifting power from states to venture-backed companies.
insights INSIGHT
Hype Fuels Investment And Imagination
Hype around AI weapons uses both promise and fear to attract capital and public attention.
Bareis ties this to the 'great sublime'—simultaneous awe and horror fueling investment and narratives.
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Autonomous weapons exist in a strange territory between Pentagon procurement contracts and Hollywood blockbusters, between actual military systems and speculative futures. For this week's Liminal Library, I spoke with Jascha Bareis, co-editor of The Realities of Autonomous Weapons(Bristol UP, 2025), about how these dual existences shape international relations and cultural imagination. The collection examines autonomous weapons not just as military hardware but as psychological tools that reshape power dynamics through their mere possibility. These systems epitomize what the editors call "the fluidity of violence"—warfare that dissolves traditional boundaries between human decision and machine action, between targeted strikes and algorithmic inevitability.
Bareis and his contributors trace fascinating connections between fictional representations and military doctrine—how Terminator narratives influence Pentagon planning while actual weapons development feeds back into artistic imagination. The book wrestles with maintaining "meaningful human control" over systems designed to operate faster than human thought, a challenge that grows more urgent as militaries worldwide race toward greater autonomy. Each chapter reveals how thoroughly we need to rethink human-machine relationships in warfare, from the gendered coding of robot soldiers in film to the way AI imaginaries differ between Silicon Valley and New Delhi. Autonomous weapons force us to confront uncomfortable realities about agency, violence, and the increasingly blurred line between human judgment and algorithmic certainty.
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