Cognitive Warfare 2026: NATO’s Chief Scientist Report as Se…

Cognitive Warfare 2026: NATO’s Chief Scientist Report as Sentinel Call for Operational Readiness.

“Thus, if neuroscience and technologies are the means of “influencing the mind by affecting the brain,” AI is increasingly becoming the means by which to "affect the mind by manipulating the information ecology." Hence, the operational concern is not simply that AI can generate persuasive content, but rather, that AI can be used to:
•  Micro-segment populations to enable psychographic and behavioral targeting
•  Optimize narratives in real time and across channels
•  Automate social amplification (e.g., using bot/hybrid actor swarms)
•  Create synthetic credibility (e.g., deepfakes, synthetic experts, forged “evidence”)
•  Exploit cognitive biases, values and vulnerabilities (e.g., salience, fear conditioning, in-group/out-group polarization).” https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/4371195/cognitive-warfare-2026-natos-chief-scientist-report-as-sentinel-call-for-operat/