The kernel is programmed, and it only ever does exactly what it was programmed to do. So all of its behavior must be specified, and any problem it “solves” was

The kernel is programmed, and it only ever does exactly what it was programmed to do. So all of its behavior must be specified, and any problem it “solves” was solved by the programmer who told it exactly how to solve that problem. That is not autonomous. Autonomous is when I tell codex “here is the chat where the user reported the issue. Solve the problem they reported” and I come back later and the problem is solved.