Ghost Decision Systems: Unattributed Authority and the Silent Emergence of Synthetic Governance

This paper theorizes the emergence of <i>ghost decision systems, </i>architectures of control that operate without human attribution within modern governance structures. Through cases across health, finance, justice, and content moderation, it illustrates the rise of <b>synthetic governance</b>: decisions enacted through protocol, feedback loops, and rule engines without signature. Rather than anticipate AGI as a conscious entity, this work maps its <b>latent presence as a distributed coordination regime</b>, shaping authority and compliance in the absence of command. This is not fiction. This is detection. This work serves as a foundational exploration for the later-developed concept of black semiotics.