AI Is Making Digital Trust Cheap. The Physical World Is the Next Boundary

Most systems still rely on a convenient assumption: if a valid credential appears on a screen, something real must stand behind it.

For a long time, that shortcut was useful. A password was likely typed by a person. A photograph suggested that a camera had been present. A signed message usually represented a deliberate human action. A familiar voice on the phone was probably attached to a familiar person.

Those assumptions are becoming weaker.

Generative AI can reproduce the surface of identity at very low cost. Software agents can act continuously using permissions originally designed for occasional human use. At the same time, the post-quantum transition is forcing institutions to reconsider how long digital trust assumptions can reasonably survive.

Digital security is not becoming less important. It is becoming insufficient on its own.

The next security boundary is the physical world.

I came to this question indirectly. My work moved...

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