Demertis is a research programme into the autonomous enterprise: a business that runs, repairs and improves itself. Machines do the work; the law has not caught up.https://demertis.comenhttps://demertis.com/blog/a-log-nobody-can-replay-is-not-a-ledgerhttps://demertis.com/blog/a-log-nobody-can-replay-is-not-a-ledgerMost systems keep logs for an engineer on call tonight. An autonomous one needs a record that a stranger can replay a year later, and that is a different design.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTauditdecision recordstraceabilityaccountabilityhttps://demertis.com/blog/a-yardstick-the-system-cannot-edithttps://demertis.com/blog/a-yardstick-the-system-cannot-editThe third loop of an autonomous operation changes its own configuration to do better. Who defines better, and where that definition lives, decides if it works.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTobjectivesmetricsGoodhart's lawadaptationhttps://demertis.com/blog/autonomy-is-what-the-loop-cannot-touchhttps://demertis.com/blog/autonomy-is-what-the-loop-cannot-touchGiving a system more autonomy is mostly a decision about what it is forbidden to do and who enforces that. A boundary the loop can edit is only a suggestion.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTpermissionslimitsblast radiusgovernancehttps://demertis.com/blog/software-rolls-back-a-forklift-does-nothttps://demertis.com/blog/software-rolls-back-a-forklift-does-notExtending an autonomous loop from records to machines turns wrong data into moving mass, and the safety case has to be written before the loop is connected.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTroboticsphysical systemssafety casemachineryhttps://demertis.com/blog/what-a-sandbox-market-cannot-tell-youhttps://demertis.com/blog/what-a-sandbox-market-cannot-tell-youStudying economic behaviour without real counterparties is the only defensible option today. It pays to be exact about what that leaves untested.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTsimulationsandboxpricingbacktestinghttps://demertis.com/blog/the-last-human-in-the-loop-is-a-signaturehttps://demertis.com/blog/the-last-human-in-the-loop-is-a-signatureMost automation programmes stop at the same place, and it is not a technical boundary. Somebody has to be accountable, and accountability needs a person.Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTautomationaccountabilityapprovalcontrol loopshttps://demertis.com/blog/self-healing-is-not-a-featurehttps://demertis.com/blog/self-healing-is-not-a-featureBolting recovery onto a system that was designed to be repaired by people produces automation that fails in more interesting ways, not fewer.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTself-healingreliabilitycontrol loopsoperationshttps://demertis.com/blog/can-a-machine-own-anythinghttps://demertis.com/blog/can-a-machine-own-anythingLegal personhood for autonomous systems gets discussed as though it were arriving. It is not, and the reasons are more interesting than the proposals.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlegal personhoodliabilityregulationgovernancehttps://demertis.com/blog/an-off-switch-that-survives-the-systemhttps://demertis.com/blog/an-off-switch-that-survives-the-systemThe interesting property of a stop is not that it exists. It is that the thing being stopped has no path to observe, delay or depend on it.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTkill switchsafetysupervisioncontrol loopshttps://demertis.com/blog/why-we-call-it-an-organismhttps://demertis.com/blog/why-we-call-it-an-organismBiological language is useful for describing closed loops and self-repair, and it is the fastest route to claims nobody can support. Both are worth saying.Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTterminologycyberneticsclaimsresearch honesty