AI-Driven Trust Decline

{
  "id": "trust-decline",
  "numericId": null,
  "path": "/knowledge-base/risks/trust-decline/",
  "filePath": "knowledge-base/risks/trust-decline.mdx",
  "title": "AI-Driven Trust Decline",
  "quality": 55,
  "readerImportance": 62,
  "researchImportance": 19,
  "tacticalValue": null,
  "contentFormat": "article",
  "tractability": null,
  "neglectedness": null,
  "uncertainty": null,
  "causalLevel": "pathway",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-03-13",
  "dateCreated": "2026-02-15",
  "llmSummary": "US government trust declined from 73% (1958) to 17% (2025), with AI deepfakes projected to reach 8M by 2025 accelerating erosion through the 'liar's dividend' effect—where synthetic content possibility undermines all evidence. Media literacy interventions show d=0.60 effect size, while C2PA content authentication provides medium-high promise for verification, though adoption rates remain uncertain (10-60% by 2027).",
  "description": "The systematic decline in public confidence in institutions, media, and verification systems—accelerated by AI's capacity to fabricate evidence and exploit epistemic vulnerabilities. US government trust has fallen from 73% (1958) to 17% (2025), with AI-generated deepfakes projected to reach 8 million by 2025.",
  "ratings": {
    "novelty": 4.5,
    "rigor": 6,
    "actionability": 5,
    "completeness": 6.5
  },
  "category": "risks",
  "subcategory": "epistemic",
  "clusters": [
    "epistemics",
    "ai-safety",
    "governance"
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "wordCount": 1510,
    "tableCount": 8,
    "diagramCount": 1,
    "internalLinks": 9,
    "externalLinks": 24,
    "footnoteCount": 0,
    "bulletRatio": 0.15,
    "sectionCount": 20,
    "hasOverview": true,
    "structuralScore": 15
  },
  "suggestedQuality": 100,
  "updateFrequency": 45,
  "evergreen": true,
  "wordCount": 1510,
  "unconvertedLinks": [
    {
      "text": "C2PA standard",
      "url": "https://c2pa.org/",
      "resourceId": "ff89bed1f7960ab2",
      "resourceTitle": "C2PA Explainer Videos"
    },
    {
      "text": "American Political Science Review (February 2025)",
      "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/liars-dividend-can-politicians-claim-misinformation-to-evade-accountability/687FEE54DBD7ED0C96D72B26606AA073",
      "resourceId": "c75d8df0bbf5a94d",
      "resourceTitle": "2024 study in the American Political Science Review"
    },
    {
      "text": "YouGov survey",
      "url": "https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/deepfakes-elections-and-shrinking-liars-dividend",
      "resourceId": "5494083a1717fed7",
      "resourceTitle": "liar's dividend"
    },
    {
      "text": "C2PA standard",
      "url": "https://c2pa.org/",
      "resourceId": "ff89bed1f7960ab2",
      "resourceTitle": "C2PA Explainer Videos"
    },
    {
      "text": "Schiff, Schiff & Bueno: The Liar's Dividend (APSR 2025)",
      "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/liars-dividend-can-politicians-claim-misinformation-to-evade-accountability/687FEE54DBD7ED0C96D72B26606AA073",
      "resourceId": "c75d8df0bbf5a94d",
      "resourceTitle": "2024 study in the American Political Science Review"
    },
    {
      "text": "Brennan Center: Deepfakes, Elections, and Shrinking the Liar's Dividend",
      "url": "https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/deepfakes-elections-and-shrinking-liars-dividend",
      "resourceId": "5494083a1717fed7",
      "resourceTitle": "liar's dividend"
    },
    {
      "text": "Carnegie Endowment: Can Democracy Survive AI?",
      "url": "https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/12/can-democracy-survive-the-disruptive-power-of-ai",
      "resourceId": "add4f54080d0bfc5",
      "resourceTitle": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
    },
    {
      "text": "C2PA: Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity",
      "url": "https://c2pa.org/",
      "resourceId": "ff89bed1f7960ab2",
      "resourceTitle": "C2PA Explainer Videos"
    }
  ],
  "unconvertedLinkCount": 8,
  "convertedLinkCount": 5,
  "backlinkCount": 14,
  "hallucinationRisk": {
    "level": "medium",
    "score": 55,
    "factors": [
      "no-citations"
    ]
  },
  "entityType": "risk",
  "redundancy": {
    "maxSimilarity": 12,
    "similarPages": [
      {
        "id": "trust-erosion-dynamics",
        "title": "Trust Erosion Dynamics Model",
        "path": "/knowledge-base/models/trust-erosion-dynamics/",
        "similarity": 12
      },
      {
        "id": "deepfake-detection",
        "title": "Deepfake Detection",
        "path": "/knowledge-base/responses/deepfake-detection/",
        "similarity": 12
      },
      {
        "id": "epistemic-risks",
        "title": "AI Epistemic Cruxes",
        "path": "/knowledge-base/cruxes/epistemic-risks/",
        "similarity": 11
      },
      {
        "id": "disinformation-detection-race",
        "title": "Disinformation Detection Arms Race Model",
        "path": "/knowledge-base/models/disinformation-detection-race/",
        "similarity": 11
      },
      {
        "id": "trust-cascade-model",
        "title": "Trust Cascade Failure Model",
        "path": "/knowledge-base/models/trust-cascade-model/",
        "similarity": 11
      }
    ]
  },
  "coverage": {
    "passing": 8,
    "total": 13,
    "targets": {
      "tables": 6,
      "diagrams": 1,
      "internalLinks": 12,
      "externalLinks": 8,
      "footnotes": 5,
      "references": 5
    },
    "actuals": {
      "tables": 8,
      "diagrams": 1,
      "internalLinks": 9,
      "externalLinks": 24,
      "footnotes": 0,
      "references": 12,
      "quotesWithQuotes": 0,
      "quotesTotal": 0,
      "accuracyChecked": 0,
      "accuracyTotal": 0
    },
    "items": {
      "llmSummary": "green",
      "schedule": "green",
      "entity": "green",
      "editHistory": "red",
      "overview": "green",
      "tables": "green",
      "diagrams": "green",
      "internalLinks": "amber",
      "externalLinks": "green",
      "footnotes": "red",
      "references": "green",
      "quotes": "red",
      "accuracy": "red"
    },
    "ratingsString": "N:4.5 R:6 A:5 C:6.5"
  },
  "readerRank": 225,
  "researchRank": 500,
  "recommendedScore": 162.53
}

{
  "lesswrong": "https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/trust"
}