Genius Weapons: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Weaponry, and the Future of Warfare

Automation is the name of the game in military innovation. Whether we’re talking nanotechnology, quantum computing, AI technology, or hybridizing humans with machines, the future of combat increasingly seems like it will be out of human hands.

Genius Weapons explores the possibilities, delving into both current technology and potential future breakthroughs. Along the way, Del Monte explains important sticking points like semi-autonomous versus autonomous and the technological and ethical dilemmas that come with some of these concepts.

Although the book is steeped in science and modern tech, plenty of it — particularly the future forecasts — are Del Monte’s opinions. Some of his late 21st-century predictions seem unlikely (Russia as a US protectorate, the UK as a US state), but other predictions are unsettlingly possible.

Unfortunately, it’s not always the most engaging read. It’s very repetitive, and the same exact facts (in the same words) recur in chapters, and sometimes within a page or two of each other, which is more distracting than informative.

Still, if nothing else, Genius Weapons is a startling glimpse of what might be to come.