Tristan Harris
Co-Founder & President, Center for Humane Technology
About
Tristan Harris is an American technology ethicist and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. After studying computer science at Stanford and working as a Design Ethicist at Google, he left in 2015 to advocate for more humane technology design. His 2017 TED talk and the Emmy-winning Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma brought widespread attention to how persuasive technology hijacks human attention. Described by The Atlantic as 'the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience,' Harris has expanded his focus to the existential risks of AI, co-hosting the podcast Your Undivided Attention.
Key Contributions
- Helped popularize the critique of persuasive design and attention extraction after leaving his design-ethics role at Google
- Co-founded the Center for Humane Technology, turning product-design harms into a mainstream policy and culture issue
- Reached a mass audience through 'The Social Dilemma,' which made social-media incentives legible but was criticized for simplifying complex research
- Co-hosts 'Your Undivided Attention,' sustaining a public forum for harms from platforms, attention markets, and AI
- Extended the same warning style to AI through 'The AI Dilemma,' arguing that capability races can outpace democratic control
- His work is effective public persuasion, though critics argue it can over-index on tech-industry insiders as moral witnesses
Videos & Interviews
8 billion people vs 5 AI CEOs with Tristan Harris
Harris argues that a handful of AI CEOs are determining the future for 8 billion people without their consent, examining the concentration of power in AI development.
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How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day
TED talk where Harris explains how tech companies prey on human psychology for profit and calls for a design renaissance that respects users' attention.
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The A.I. Dilemma - March 9, 2023
Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin present the Center for Humane Technology's case that existing AI capabilities already pose catastrophic risks, introducing the concept of "Golem-class AIs."
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