The Terminator movie franchise started in 1984. It created an iconic role for Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
“Terminator is an American media franchise created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. It is considered to be of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.[4][5] The franchise primarily focuses on the events leading to a future post-apocalyptic war between a synthetic intelligence known as Skynet, and a surviving resistance of humans led by John Connor. In this future, Skynet uses an arsenal of cyborgs known as Terminators, designed to mimic humans and infiltrate the resistance. Much of the franchise takes place in time periods prior to the Skynet takeover, with both humans and Terminators using time travel to attempt to alter the past and change the outcome of the future. A prominent Terminator model throughout the films is the T-800, commonly known as "the Terminator", with instances of this model portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Battlestar Galactica 2004 was darker reimagining of the original 1978 TV series. The Cylons were created by man but later rebelled. In the original TV series they were mechanical robots. In the 2004 version the original robots existed but they evolved into human form known as “skin jobs.” The Cylons attacked and one of the only surviving ships was Battlestar Galactica, which was old and about to be decommissioned. The creation of man was now trying to exterminate all humans. Here’s the trailer for series.
Kill Decision is a 2013 book by Daniel Suarez. The book is about drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention. The author, Daniel Suarez is known for his extensive research. In 2013 he recorded a TED Talk, The kill decision shouldn’t belong to a robot on the subject of autonomous weapons. What’s so disturbing about watching this video is realizing it was made 13 years ago.
Prompting Culture by P.Q. Rubin
Can An AI Company Protect Us From Killer Robots?
On Anthropic’s quarrel with the US government
Below is an article from the Washington Post dated March 4, 2026. Here’s a gift link.
Advanced AI technology is identifying targets in Iran and quickly prioritizing them, supporting the massive military operations carried out by U.S. and Israeli forces.
“In order to strike a blistering 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours of its attack on Iran, the U.S. military leveraged the most advanced artificial intelligence it’s ever used in warfare, a tool that could be difficult for the Pentagon to give up even as it severs ties with the company that created it.”
“The military’s Maven Smart System, which is built by data mining company Palantir, is generating insights from an astonishing amount of classified data from satellites, surveillance and other intelligence, helping provide real-time targeting and target prioritization to military operations in Iran, according to three people familiar with the system.”
A quick Google search asking for a list of AI driven military weapon systems has a scary list of results. Below is a list of just categories. Each one has a long list of specific weapons.
Autonomous Aerial Systems & Munitions
Land-Based Systems
Naval & Networked Systems
Target Identification & Command Tools
The question is no longer if we have AI systems making targeting and ultimately use decisions? It’s how are we using these systems today?
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My upcoming novel, Electromagnetic Assault, is getting closer. The launch date is April 7, 2026. The book will be available as an Ebook, print on demand, and audiobook. You can preorder the Ebook now from Amazon.
I was a guest on the Rabbit Hole of Research Podcast Episode 55. This episode was originally supposed to air in April closer to my book launch, but world events caught up with the episodes topic, Directed Energy Weapons. The El Paso airport was shut down while Homeland Security tested a laser weapon against a Mexican drone incursion, so this episode was released on February 18th.
On Saturday, April 18th at 2:00 PM I’ll present an author talk and have a book signing at the Fitchburg, WI public library.
On May 1st I’ll be a speaker at the Lakefly Writers Conference and Book Fair in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. For writers my conference session is why new writers should start a Substack Email Newsletter prior to publication. For readers I’ll be selling my new book, Electromagnetic Assault at the Book Fair.
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