Autonomous weapons of pleasure. Media archaeology of automated killing in military and gaming technologies

ABSTRACTThe article examines the relationship between the military model of autonomous weapons and the use of AI combat entities in computer games. The author explores how the technological and discursive model of autonomous weapons functions in the software created to entertain the players. The methodology of the article is based on Kittlerian media discourse analysis and media archaeology. The article focuses on a case of predatory AI that hunts the player in Alien: Isolation game. The author compares technologies of automated warfare (the Igloo White Operation, Predator and Reaper drones, Project Pigeon etc.) with the game to reveal that certain military aspects (automated tracking, killing, manhunt, mental manipulation etc.) recur in the software. The pleasure of playing games masks the military entrapment. The author explains how the software exploits the joys of being ‘immersed’ in a machine. The gameplay implements the cybernetic project of man-machine interaction, providing the player with an illusion of control. In reality, the AI system manages the player’s behaviour and emotions, making them enjoy being preyed on. The author ponders how the domesticated pleasure of playing against killing bots may be used to develop autonomous weapons and become weaponised against humans.KEYWORDS: Autonomous weapondigital gameAlien: Isolationartificial intelligencemedia archaeology Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 2K is a game publishing company.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMichał Dawid ŻmudaMichał Dawid Żmuda, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Humanities at the University of Rzeszow in Poland, Fulbright graduate. He was a visiting research assistant in the Comparative Media/Writing Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2015/2016), and in the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen (2018). He is currently interested in media archaeology of the shooting techniques in technical media and the discourse networks behind technologies of flow (flowing substances, electrons, information, subjects, etc.).