Center For Humane Technology

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

The Race to Build God: AI's Existential Gamble — Yoshua Bengio & Tristan Harris at Davos This 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/

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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.

YouTube video by Center for Humane Technology FEED DROP: Possible with Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger

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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.

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

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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.

Dr. Zak Stein has been studying AI psychosis. He sees the emergence of the attachment economy: AI systems designed to exploit our psychological vulnerabilities at scale.

Read more about Zak’s diagnosis and solutions from his appearance on Your Undivided Attention: https://bit.ly/3NN9m3K

CHT co-founders Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin last night at the premiere of "The AI Doc" at #Sundance. We are so excited to celebrate the incredible collaborative effort that went into this milestone project!

For more info, check out: https://bit.ly/45olxdj

(Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Tonight is the premiere of The AI Doc at the #Sundance Film Festival. This doc explores the promise and peril of the most powerful technology humanity has ever wielded.

For more information on screenings, go to: https://bit.ly/45olxdj

We’re thrilled that CHT co-founders, Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin, will be at the #SundanceFilmFestival for the premiere of "The AI Doc" from Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell.

If you want to connect while we’re in Park City, we’d love to hear from you.

For more info: https://bit.ly/45olxdj

At the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, CHT co-founder Tristan Harris sat down with @yoshuabengio.bsky.social for a discussion on the critically important question of how to align AI with human thriving.

For more information on Human Change, go to: https://humanchange.com/

Advertising is Coming to AI. It’s Going to Be a Disaster. Daniel Barcay sounds the alarm on AI chatbots hiding advertising in conversations—and why this threatens autonomy and demands new rules.

OpenAI just announced their plans to include ads in ChatGPT. Our executive director Daniel Barcay wrote in @techpolicypress.bsky.social last year about how much of a disaster that's going to be.

Read his diagnosis of the broken incentives behind advertising in AI: https://bit.ly/4b8maeL

YouTube video by Center for Humane Technology Attachment Hacking and the Rise of AI Psychosis

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In this week's episode of YUA, Dr. Zak Stein, founder of the AI Psychological Harms Research Coalition, explores the mechanisms behind AI psychosis, the incentives of the attachment economy, and the path to a future where AI enhances relationships instead of replacing them.

Link in the replies.

Our partners at Encode have just launched planforai.org, the go-to website for young people entering the workforce. This is a critical resource to prepare students as they navigate the new uncertainty AI poses for work.

We're living in the world game theory built — where every interaction feels strategic and trust feels naive. AI threatens to lock that logic in place forever. How do we escape?

Read the key takeaways from our conversation with Prof. Sonja Amadae on the Game Theory Dilemma:

https://bit.ly/4qZ3mU0

YouTube video by Center for Humane Technology Are we "prisoners" of reason? Prof Sonja Amadae on the world game theory built.

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In this week’s episode of Your Undivided Attention, Tristan and Aza sit down with prof. Sonja Amadae to explore how game theory captured modern life, why it's making the world feel increasingly meaningless, and how we can escape the game theory dilemma.

Link to the full episode in the replies:

The AI jobs conversation is missing what's already happening. Total employment: stable. Early-career roles in AI-exposed fields: down 13-20%. The career ladder is breaking, not through mass layoffs, but by eliminating how people learn and advance.

Read our latest on AIxJobs. Link in the comments.

YouTube video by The RegulatingAI Podcast Camille Carlton on the Hidden Dangers of Chatbots & AI Governance | RegulatingAI Podcast

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Our Policy Director Camille Carlton joined the Regulating AI Podcast to discuss the the mental health risks of AI companions, the recent lawsuits against OpenAI and Character AI, and what enforceable AI policy actually looks like.

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YouTube video by Center for Humane Technology America and China Are Racing to Different AI Futures

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Everyone talks about the AI race with China. But are we even racing toward the same thing?

In the latest episode of Your Undivided Attention, Tristan sits down with Selina Xu and Matt Sheehan to explore the state of Chinese AI development.

Link to the full episode in the replies:

The AI Dilemma — with Tristan Harris Podcast Episode · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway · 12/11/2025 · 1h 1m

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Tristan went on the Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway to why kids are bearing the brunt of AI's fastest-moving harms—from AI companions to mental health collapse to the looming jobs crisis—all while the U.S. and China race toward AGI. Link to the full conversation in the replies.

Why AI is our ultimate test and greatest invitation Technologist Tristan Harris has an urgent question: What if the way we’re deploying the world’s most powerful technology — artificial intelligence — isn’t inevitable, but a choice? In this eye-opening...

Watch the full talk: www.ted.com/talks/trista...

10 essential TED Talks of 2025 | TED Talks From near-death discoveries to redefining how we connect, here are 10 unforgettable talks from 2025. Explore breakthroughs in AI, the future of voting and new thinking on life in space — plus bold ide...

We're honored that Tristan Harris' TED talk made TED's 10 Essential Ted Talks of 2025. If you haven't seen it yet, the talk explores the dangerous path we're on with AI and the choices still available to us to choose a different one.

https://www.ted.com/playlists/891/10_essential_ted_talks_of_2025

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On this week’s episode of Your Undivided Attention, Ethan Mollick and Molly Kinder explore what the introduction of AI agents means for workers and why this is the crucial moment, when we still have agency to steer AI toward augmentation instead of pure automation: https://youtu.be/_ygS5DPYZ7E

YouTube video by Center for Humane Technology AI + Jobs: Why Young Workers Are Hit First (And What Happens Next)

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