Feature Book
The Realities of Autonomous Weapons
From the publisher: The realities of autonomous weapons are a complex blend of both existing military technologies and visions of their future capabilities. The expected ramifications are profound and always point to the interplay between fact and fiction, actual developments and creative imagination.
This book explores how these realities shape and become themselves shaped by popular culture, regulatory and ethics debates, military doctrines, policies and research. It examines phenomena ranging from film and artistic interpretations to warfare scenarios and weaponized artificial intelligence.
Intended for researchers (including the disciplines of political and social sciences, media, culture and technology), policy makers, educators and journalists, this is a key resource that uncovers how autonomous weapons are constructed as both a technological reality and a futuristic possibility.
Thomas Bächle and Jascha Bareis (eds). The Realities of Autonomous Weapons. Bristol University Press, June 2025. Open Access. https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-realities-of-autonomous-weapons.
Chapters
Bächle, T.C. and X. Liu. 2025. “Showcasing Power, Performing Responsibility? Introducing Military AI Discourses in China.”
Bareis, J. and T. C. Bächle. 20205. “The Realities of Autonomous Weapons: Hedging a Hybrid Space of Fact and Fiction.”
Bode, I. and S. Mohan. 2025. “From the Reel to the Real: Narratives of Weaponized Artificial Intelligence Technologies in India.”
Ernst, C. 2025. “From Network-centric Warfare to Autonomous Warfighting Networks: Recontextualising Autonomous Weapons Systems Imaginaries.”
Hälterlein, J. 2025. “Governing Autonomies: Imagining Responsible AI in the European Armament Project ‘Future Combat Air System.'”
Heffernan, T. 2025. “Autonomous Weapons in Fiction and the Fiction of Autonomous Weapons.”
Jone, R. 20205. “From Maschinenmensch to Robot Bubs: Female-presenting Autonomous Weapons Systems in Live-action Films from 1927-2022.”
Packer, J. and J. Reeves. 2025. “New Media, New Enemies: The Emergence of Automated Weapons in Counterterrorism.”
Rooke, J. 20205. “The AI-Lure of US Airpower: Imaginaries of Disruption in the Pursuit of Technological Superiority since the Early 20th Century.”
Schwartz, E. 2025. “Engineering Moral Failure? The Challenges of Algorithmic Ethics for Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems.”
Seidl, B. 2025. “Legitimizing and Contesting Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in Japan: A Multi-layered Analysis of Public Discourse.”
Suchman, L. 2025. “Il/legal War: Expanding the Frame of Meaningful Human Control from Military Operations to Democratic Governance.”
Weber, J. 2025. “The Reality of (Past) Future Air Combat Systems: Climate Wars, Carbon Costs and Rare Earth Elements.”