Wartime Kill Switch: Human or AI?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As modern warfare becomes increasingly automated and AI-reliant, questions arise about the use of a “kill switch” overriding autonomous weapons in conflict zones. Should the ultimate decision be in humans’ or AI’s hands? Those arguing for human oversight say moral reasoning, empathy, and legal accountability are essential, especially in wartime. Supporters of AI integration argue that machines can make faster, more precise, and less emotional decisions, which could prove more humane than past approaches. Now we debate: Wartime Kill Switch: Human or AI? Arguing "Human": Elliot Ackerman, Former Marine Raider Officer and CIA Special Activities Officer; Bestselling Author Laura Walker McDonald, Senior Advisor for New Technologies & Conflict at the International Committee of the Red Cross Arguing "AI": Michael C. Horowitz, Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the Council on Foreign Relations; Director of Perry World House and Richard Perry Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Jack Shanahan, Inaugural Director of Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Office of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Visit OpentoDebate.org to watch more insightful debates. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on our curated weekly debates, dynamic live events, and educational initiatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:30.3	The reason why treaties work for something like landmines or chemical weapons is they're very
0:34.8	discrete technologies. But AI is a general purpose technology.
0:38.3	It's more like the combustion engine or the airplane.
0:40.7	It's why when people talk about AI arms races, it's kind of incoherent.
0:44.0	Nobody talked about a combustion engine arms race.
0:46.4	AI is going to be ubiquitous on the battlefield in every technology.
0:53.4	This is open to debate. I'm John Donvan. Welcome to another of our episodes
0:57.2	in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations, where again, we are drawn to the tension
1:02.0	that surrounds AI, artificial intelligence, a technology that is moving fast to the point where
1:08.4	algorithms can make critical decisions faster than our brains can.
1:12.7	And we are here to debate what happens when algorithms go to war,
1:17.1	because it is now looking more than feasible that weapon systems,
1:20.5	fleets of drones or gliders flying faster than sound,
1:23.8	will ultimately incorporate AI of such power and autonomy that once launched, they will be out
1:29.6	there attacking on their own. They can't be stopped. There is, to put it bluntly, no kill switch.
1:34.7	And how should America's military strategic thinkers think about that question of delegating
1:39.3	life or death decision to machines, especially when you consider how quickly adversaries like China are making
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