Center For Humane Technology

Tristan and Aza were in Reykjavik this weekend for the Arctic Circle Assembly, a gathering of 2500 officials from 70 nations dedicated to international cooperation and dialogue. They sat down for a talk with Icelandic President Halla Tómasdóttir on how to steer toward a more humane AI future.

Stop the AI Drift is live across the NYC subway. While we debate what AI could do tomorrow, it’s already changing how we think, work, and relate to each other today. We call it AI drift. Learn more at itsnotyouits.ai #AIDrift #ItsNotYouItsAI

16 Sept

CHT co-founder Aza Raskin sat down with Ramesh Srinivasan on @utopiaspodcast.bsky.social to discuss ethical tech design, maintaining connection and creativity, and his advice for the next generation of technologists. Check out the full episode here: https://bit.ly/4gXuAYP

This week we’ve seen a number of warnings about AI safety from researchers and commentators, including a letter from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling for a slower pace of development.

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The AI industry needs oversight, transparency, and accountability that don’t rely on self-regulation by AI companies. The lack of accountability to date has allowed the world’s top AI companies to race toward increasingly advanced AI without addressing the risks and harms they create.

humanetech.comThe AI Roadmap: How We Ensure AI Serves HumanityWe're a nonprofit exposing the negative effects of persuasive technology and social media and empowering people to take action. Discover The Social Dilemma, our podcast, course, and more.

This week’s news only strengthens the case for standards that protect people from the harms we’re seeing today and the catastrophic risks of the future. Here at CHT, we’ve detailed the path forward in our AI Roadmap: www.humanetech.com/ai-roadmap

This week we’ve seen a number of warnings about AI safety from researchers and commentators, including a letter from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling for a slower pace of development.

AI industry leaders warning the public about the very technologies they are building should be a turning point for how people and policymakers treat the harms and risks of AI. Calls to slow AI advancement underscore how serious this issue has become.

AI systems are already shaping who gets hired, how people are surveilled, how our children learn, and where a struggling teenager turns for advice or comfort. Slowing down is only meaningful if the time is spent putting real protections in place that both address future risk and current harms.

Feeling confused, anxious, or overwhelmed by the recent AI headlines? To understand how we got here, and what we can do, watch “The AI Doc,” now streaming on Netflix starting Sept 15th as well as other major streaming platforms. #theaidoc #theaidocfilm Watch on Netflix: https://bit.ly/4xq5gQk

bit.lyAI isn't making you dumber. But it may be changing how you thinkResearchers are split on whether relying on AI is eroding our critical thinking -- or just changing it. Here's what they actually found.

18 Aug

Our Senior Director of Strategy and Impact, Camille Carlton, spoke to @san.com about how today's AI systems are designed to weaken our cognitive capacities, not amplify them. https://bit.ly/3SzyuxH

13 Aug

On Monday, 8/24, CHT's Camille Carlton joins David Ryan Polgar, founder of @alltechishuman.bsky.social, for a fireside chat on preserving what makes us human in the age of AI. This event is sold out, but stay tuned for a recording, which we'll make available shortly after.

4 Aug

Read ikhan.bsky.social's piece on our Substack about why access to high-quality data is the biggest obstacle to measuring AI's impact on humans — and what a new data-sharing infrastructure between AI companies and researchers might look like. https://bit.ly/4w27rZv

bit.lyThat feeling you’re having about AI? It's telling you something important.A letter from CHT’s Executive Director

23 July

AI is reshaping the most intimate parts of our lives and eroding our fundamental human capacities in the process. CHT is committed to protecting those capacities. Read our executive director Julie Guirado's letter about the work we're doing on AI and what makes us human: https://bit.ly/3T7VMuC

centerforhumanetechnology.substack.comWill Human-Like AI Hijack Human Psychology?Have you been on a customer service phone-call recently and found yourself wondering whether you’re actually talking to a human – or to an AI voice agent?

20 July

Read ikhan.bky.social’s piece in our Substack today about why the fundamental human need for connection can be a “glitch” in our psychology — one that AI companies are racing to exploit. Read the full piece here: https://bit.ly/4hnwfrc

10 July

Illinois has taken a step toward safer AI systems by signing the AI Safety Measures Act into law. CHT endorsed the bill this spring, and we're grateful for the work of sponsor Sen. Edly-Allen, partners Encode AI and Secure AI Project, and Gov. Pritzker for getting this across the finish line.

humanetech.comEmerging Voices in AI and Society FellowshipWe're looking for mid-career experts from interdisciplinary backgrounds with media experience and excitement to apply to our fellowship program.

8 July

Applications for our inaugural Emerging Voices in AI & Society Fellows Program close this Sunday, July 12! Learn more and apply here: https://www.humanetech.com/fellowship

bit.ly“Magnifica Humanitas:” Pope Leo’s Clarion Call on AITristan Harris on his experience meeting the Pope ahead of his encyclical on AI

2 July

In this week’s episode of YUA, Tristan and Aza discuss what it was like for Tristan to meet Pope Leo ahead of his AI encyclical, why this is such a critical step toward a pro-human future, and how we can build on the momentum of the Pope’s call to action. Check it out: https://bit.ly/442tgwy

30 June

Applications are still open for our inaugural Emerging Voices in AI & Society Fellows Program! Submit your applicatiion by July 12, 2026. The fellowship begins September 14. Learn more and apply here: https://www.humanetech.com/fellowship

bit.lyWe Need AI Treaties. This is How We Get Them.A conversation with experts on the tech we need to govern AI

18 June

In this week’s episode of YUA, Tristan sits down with experts to talk about the kinds of verification technology we need to govern AI, the challenges of building it, and the world it could unlock if we did. Check out the full conversation: https://bit.ly/4grYoNe

17 June

CHT is pleased to announce we’re opening applications for our inaugural Emerging Voices in AI & Society Fellows Program. Learn more about the program: https://bit.ly/44fENIV Applications are open through July 12, 2026. The cohort begins September 14. Apply here: https://bit.ly/4eq7mIf

17 June

CHT is pleased to announce we’re opening applications for our inaugural Emerging Voices in AI & Society Fellows Program. Read more about the program here: https://bit.ly/4vjULha Applications are open through July 12, 2026. The cohort begins September 14.

spectrum.ieee.orgWhy Aren't We Measuring How AI Affects Humans?Expert calls for metrics on AI models' societal impact, not just performance

10 June

Imran Khan — who leads our work on psychosocial evaluations of AI — spoke to @spectrum.ieee.org on the need for benchmarks that measure how AI products impact society, not just their raw capability. Read the full article here: https://spectrum.ieee.org/measuring-ai-societal-impact-khan

bit.lyCQ Researcher - Humanoid RobotsThe prevalence of humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence is growing worldwide and expected to increase dramatically in coming years, from sales of $3 billion in 2025 to $15.2 billion by 2030 and $5 trillion by 2050, with 1 ...

9 June

Pete Furlong, CHT's Senior Manager of Policy and Research, was featured in Congressional Quarterly Researcher's recent report on the risks and rewards of humanoid robotics. Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/4xfcO9y

2 June

CHT co-founders Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin joined This is Gavin Newsom for a wide-ranging discussion on the stakes of the disastrous default path we're on with AI, and how we can still grab the wheel and steer towards a better future. Check out their full conversation: https://bit.ly/4dQoJBS

27 May

Over half of Americans believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits. Tristan Harris went on One Nation with Brian Kilmeade to discuss why people aren't buying the vision of AI they're being sold today — and what a different path might look like.

26 May

AI has been reshaping what it means to be human, and this week Pope Leo gave much-needed voice to what many of us have been struggling to articulate. We're grateful for his clarity, and for the moral weight he's bringing to a conversation that so deeply needs it.

26 May

Our co-founder, Tristan Harris, is honored to have been invited to The Vatican ahead of Pope Leo's first encyclical, which warned against AI's erosion of human dignity, identity, and agency. We're hopeful that this will help the world recognize the urgent need to change course.

21 May

Camille Carlton, CHT’s Senior Director of Strategy and Impact, laid out for the TEDxMiami audience last week how AI is eroding critical pillars of our humanity — and what can be done to protect the things we cherish as humans. Stay tuned for a full video of Camille's talk in the coming weeks.

centerforhumanetechnology.substack.comWhat's at Stake: Preserving What Makes Us Deeply Human in the Age of AIAnnouncing CHT’s new work on “AI and What Makes Us Human”

21 May

To learn more about CHT’s work on “AI and What Makes Us Human,” read our Substack post: centerforhumanetechnology.substack.com/p/whats-at-s...

15 May

The wait is over! Starting today, May 15, you can stream The AI Doc on Peacock. The film takes the dizzying complexity of AI — its promise, its perils, the competing ideologies, the economic incentives shaping it all — and turns it into a shared experience we can watch and respond to together.

14 May

Modern life depends on digital security. So what happens when an AI can find thousands of new vulnerabilities in the software that runs the world in just hours? Tristan asks two experts to talk through the meaning of Claude Mythos. Watch - https://bit.ly/49MvKlM Listen - https://bit.ly/49MvJOK

8 May

AI companies have promised that superintelligent AI will cure cancer. Dr. Emilia Javorsky argues that this promise is not only false — it's taking resources from what could actually help. Read our producer Julia Scott's key takeaways from our conversation with Dr. Javorsky: https://bit.ly/48KRy0T

bit.ly25 Tech Insiders on the Innovations Defining American Life TodayTIME asked Tim Cook, Ray Kurzweil, Gwynne Shotwell, and 22 others to tell us about an innovation that speaks to America at 250

5 May

To mark America's 250th birthday, Time Magazine asked 25 tech insiders — including CHT co-founders Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin — to name a technology that's "defining American life today." Read the full piece to see what they picked: https://bit.ly/3P6sDOG

persuasion.communityThe Case for AI RegulationThe Mythos near-catastrophe demonstrates why the status quo cannot continue.

4 May

CHT Executive Director Julie Guirado has a new op-ed for the Persuasion substack today on what the Mythos story reveals about the dangerous, broken incentives of the AI race: https://bit.ly/3QECo7h

30 Apr

On this week's episode of Your Undivided Attention, Dr. Emilia Javorsky explains why superintelligence won't get us to a cancer cure. And how AI could revolutionize medicine, if we choose a different path. Check it out at the links in the replies:

bit.lyWhy Superintelligence Won’t Cure CancerOne of the most common arguments you hear from company executives racing to develop super-intelligent AI is that it will cure cancer. It’s an incredibly powerful and seductive promise. If superintelligent AI really can cure cancer, then anyone who stands in the way of it, anyone who wants to slow it down — even because of its serious risks — is essentially letting people die. In fact, the biggest risk would be going too slowly. But what if a superintelligent AI isn’t actually capable of solving cancer in the way it's been described? What if we're being sold a false promise to justify a dangerous race? That’s exactly what our guest this week argues is happening. Dr. Emilia Javorsky is a physician, public health researcher, and director of the Futures Program at the Future of Life Institute. She's worked across scientific research, clinical trials, tech startups, and AI policy. Emilia recently wrote a paper titled “How AI Can and Can't Cure Cancer,” in which she argues that the promise of superintelligence curing cancer falls apart under scrutiny. Emilia lost a parent to cancer, so her criticism of this promise comes from a place of real concern, not cynicism. It also comes from her belief that AI can be really revolutionary for medicine, if we build it the right way. Subscribe to our Substack https://centerforhumanetechnology.substack.com/

30 Apr

Watch - bit.ly/4wk5Akn Listen - bit.ly/4ekP2SE Read - bit.ly/4vZbcQy

open.substack.comWhat is AI doing to humans? Why aren’t we measuring it?We measure AIs to see whether they can pass a bar exam, write working code, and use your computer interface. We test to see how good they are at completing complex tasks, or just impressing humans.

28 Apr

ikhan.bky.social has a new article on our Substack that explains why we need better AI benchmarks that focus not on raw capability but on how AI is impacting users. You can read his full piece here: https://bit.ly/4czfuqj

Center For Humane Technology reposted

Real Time with Bill Maher

@realtimers.bsky.social

23 Mar

"This is not to scare you. It's to be crystal clear about where this is heading: This is heading towards an anti-human future." Watch Tristan Harris give Bill an eye-opening A.I. update. 😮🤖 Join #TheHumanMovement @ human.mov @humanetech.bsky.social @realbillmaher.bsky.social

23 Mar

"The AI Doc" opens this Friday. In this week’s episode of YUA, Tristan and Aza talk to the team behind it about how they condensed AI's complexities into a single film that anyone can understand. Listen to the episode. Then go see the film with your friends and family. Links in the replies.

bit.lyA conversation with the team behind "The AI Doc" — in theaters THIS FRIDAY 3/27“The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist” opens in theaters across the U.S. this Friday, March 27. In this episode, we sit down with the team behind this groundbreaking documentary — Oscar-winning producers Daniel Kwan, Jonathan Wang, and Ted Tremper. They explore how they navigated the overwhelming complexity of AI, held space for radically different perspectives, and created a film designed not just to inform but to be experienced together. At CHT, we believe clarity creates agency. This film has the power to create the shared clarity we need to steer the direction of AI towards a better, more humane technological future. With every new technology, there’s a brief window to set the rules of the road that determine the future we live in. This is ours. So grab your friends, your family and go see “The AI Doc.” Subscribe to our Substack https://centerforhumanetechnology.substack.com/

23 Mar

Watch - bit.ly/41ndWcm Read - bit.ly/47TKa2H Listen - bit.ly/4by7kfW

17 Mar

That's a wrap on @sxsw.com 2026! Tristan and Aza had a packed week full of premieres, panels, and podcasts. The movement for a better technological future is here — together, we can shape the direction of AI. See you next time, Austin!

time.comAnthropic Drops Flagship Safety PledgeIn an abrupt shift, the company may release future AI models without ironclad safety guarantees

26 Feb

Earlier this week, Anthropic announced it would substantially scale back its commitments to safety. This what we've been warning about for years: when AI labs are incentivized for competitive advantage, voluntary safety commitments aren't enough. Read more here: https://bit.ly/4cwwzBN

19 Feb

Our policy team has put together their annual policy forecast for 2026. From midterm election dynamics to the fate of state AI laws under threat of federal preemption, you can see what we're tracking here: https://bit.ly/4rlXHYB

19 Feb

This week on Your Undivided Attention, we’re bringing you a discussion between Tristan and Yoshua Bengio about the necessity and challenges of building a truly safe AI system, and why the current incentives are taking us in the opposite direction. Check it out at the links in the replies.

bit.lyThe Race to Build God: AI's Existential Gamble — Yoshua Bengio & Tristan Harris at DavosThis week on Your Undivided Attention, Tristan Harris and Daniel Barcay offer a backstage recap of what it was like to be at the Davos World Economic Forum meeting this year as the world’s power brokers woke up to the risks of uncontrolled AI. Amidst all the money and politics, the Human Change House (https://www.youtube.com/@_humanchange) staged a weeklong series of remarkable conversations between scientists and experts about technology and society. This episode is a discussion between Tristan and Professor Yoshua Bengio, who is considered one of the world’s leaders in AI and deep learning, and the most cited scientist in the field. Yoshua and Tristan had a frank exchange about the AI we’re building, and the incentives we’re using to train models. What happens when a model has its own goals, and those goals are ‘misaligned’ with the human-centered outcomes we need? In fact this is already happening, and the consequences are tragic. Truthfully, there may not be a way to ‘nudge’ or regulate companies toward better incentives. Yoshua has launched a nonprofit AI safety research initiative called Law Zero that isn't just about safety testing, but really a new form of advanced AI that's fundamentally safe by design. Corrections and Clarifications: 1) In this episode, Tristan Harris discussed AI chatbot safety concerns. The core issues are substantiated by investigative reporting, with these clarifications: Grok: The Washington Post reported in August 2024 that Grok generated sexualized images involving minors and had weaker content moderation than competitors. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/07/grok-ai-child-safety-csam/ Meta: The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2024 that Meta reduced safety restrictions on its AI chatbots. Testing showed inappropriate responses when researchers posed as 13-year-olds (Meta's minimum age) (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-ai-chatbot-safety-restrictions-e9e8ce3f). Our discussion referenced "eight year olds" to emphasize concerns about young children accessing these systems; the documented testing involved 13-year-old personas. Bottom line: The fundamental concern stands—major AI companies have reduced safety guardrails due to competitive pressure, creating documented risks for young users. 2) There was no Google House at Davos in 2026, as stated by Tristan. It was a collaboration at Goals House. 3) Tristan states that in 2025, the total funding going into AI safety organizations was “on the order of about $150 million.” This number is not strictly verifiable. Subscribe to our podcast: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast Subscribe to our Substack: https://centerforhumanetechnology.substack.com/

19 Feb

Watch - bit.ly/4kKKiXC Listen - apple.co/4cDCyo9

5 Feb

This week on Your Undivided Attention, we’re bringing you Aza Raskin’s conversation with Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger on their podcast “Possible” Link in the replies.

youtu.beFEED DROP: Possible with Reid Hoffman and Aria FingerYouTube video by Center for Humane Technology

5 Feb

Watch - youtu.be/-EsM5NleZKM Read - centerforhumanetechnology.substack.com/p/feed-drop-... Listen - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

2 Feb

Center for Humane Technology has launched a new work area: “AI and What Makes Us Human” How is AI eroding the things we hold dear in our lives? And what new norms, rights, and protections do we need in order to preserve our humanity in the age of AI? Read more on our Substack, link in replies.

open.substack.com/pub/centerfo...

2 Feb

open.substack.comWhat's at Stake: Preserving What Makes Us Deeply Human in the Age of AIAnnouncing CHT’s new work on “AI and What Makes Us Human”