Mortal Knowledge Protocol
A Governance Framework for AI Memory Systems
Ricky Valentine (Richard Valentine) · 2026-03-03
Abstract
We present the Mortal Knowledge Protocol (MKP), a governance framework for AI memory systems built on the thesis that knowledge must be mortal to remain valuable. MKP defines a six-state lifecycle governed by attention-weighted decay, where knowledge that is not retrieved gradually loses salience and migrates from active storage to cold archive.