Autonomous Warfare by Kai London
As decision-making moves further into software, the questions that matter are less about capability than about control: what the system is permitted to decide, who remains accountable, how it is tested, and what evidence exists afterwards. Autonomous Warfare examines those questions analytically, and draws out the assurance lessons that apply well beyond defence.
What the book covers
Degrees of autonomy
A clear vocabulary for automation, supervised autonomy and full autonomy, and why imprecise language distorts the debate.
Meaningful human control
What the concept means in engineering terms: authority, timing, information and the capacity to intervene.
Testing and assurance
Verification of systems that behave probabilistically, and the limits of test coverage.
Accountability and evidence
Logging, reconstruction and responsibility when a decision chain includes a model.
The policy debate
The main positions in the international discussion, presented fairly and without advocacy.
Transfer to civil systems
What the assurance practices imply for agentic AI in industrial, medical and enterprise contexts.
The book is analytical and even-handed. It does not attribute programmes or incidents to named states or actors, take a political side, predict conflicts, or include casualty figures; nor is it an operational guide.
Who it is for
Policy and strategy professionals, AI governance and assurance leads, safety and systems engineers, and boards overseeing highly automated decision-making.
About the author
Professor Kai London — CISSP, CISM.
An internationally recognised cybersecurity executive, board advisor and Founder & CEO of Quantum AI Systems Security LLC, writing at the convergence of AI, governance and operational resilience. Honorary Professor and Researcher at UCL.