Definition
Mental Security is the proposed right of individuals to live in a largely true information environment. It is the cognitive equivalent of physical security, protecting humans from the Infopocalypse—a catastrophic failure of the marketplace of ideas caused by automated misinformation, deepfakes, and bot armies.
Why It Matters
Mental security is the next great human right; in an age of deepfakes and automated misinformation, protecting our information environment is as critical for civilizational survival as protecting our physical safety.
Core Concepts
- The Infopocalypse: A state where the volume of AI-generated misinformation (deepfakes, fake news, bot comments) is so high that individuals can no longer distinguish truth from lies, leading to a total collapse of trust in institutions.
- Deepfakes: Realistic video and audio content generated by AI that can make anyone appear to say or do anything, potentially inducing unshakeable false beliefs.
- Bot Armies: Millions of fake digital identities that can swamp truthful information with billions of automated comments and recommendations, creating a false sense of consensus.
- Reputation Systems: The “circular” systems we use to determine truth (e.g., trusting a news source because other trusted sources report it as trustworthy), which are vulnerable to “infopocalypse” failure.