Autonomous Warfare Does Not End at the Body: Semantic Autonomy and Autonomous Semantic Warfare as Extension of LAWS and Cognitive Warfare Discourse (v1.1)

Autonomous warfare does not end at the body. This metadata packet proposes Autonomous Semantic Warfare (ASW) as a governance and analytic category — not a recognized legal one — for the semantic layer of autonomous systems. It builds on a three-layer model: kinetic autonomy (LAWS), cognitive autonomy (cognitive warfare), and semantic autonomy (ASW). Threshold: Not every autonomous semantic operation is warfare. ASW names the warfare-relevant subset: AI-mediated filtering, indexing, ranking, summarization, citation, entity disambiguation, and provenance handling that — by deliberate use, configuration, or strategically consequential ungoverned scale — alter the conditions under which populations can access, cite, remember, and contest meaning. Two forms: Intentional ASW (deliberate weaponization of semantic infrastructure by a state, non-state actor, or platform) and Structural ASW (autonomous systems producing strategic semantic effects without explicit war intent). Most contemporary cases are structural; the analytical contribution is that autonomy itself can produce strategic effects without a traditional human commander. Bridges: UN GGE on LAWS / CCW process; NATO Chief Scientist Report on Cognitive Warfare (2025); CCDCOE 2026 reframing around 'cognitive decoherence'; FY2026 NDAA mandate (per SASC Report 119-39); Rushing/Hersch/Xu (arXiv:2603.05222); IHL (Martens Clause, Article 36 AP I); Semantic Economy. Cognitive decoherence as partial effect of autonomous semantic restructuring is offered as research hypothesis, not established causality. Part of the Lateral Field Bleed Core Concept Bridge Series (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20084143). Companion packets: Canon Formation (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20084377); Death Drive (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20084474); Political Economy → Semantic Economy (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20078424). Version note: v1.1 incorporates Assembly Pass corrections — warfare threshold qualification; semantic autonomy defined as parent category; intentional/structural distinction; autonomy dimensions table; information/cognitive/semantic comparison; IHL bridge; refined 'human in the loop' framing; softened causal claim about cognitive decoherence; citation hierarchy split; realistic temporal expectations. ∮ = 1