Center for Humane Technology

{{Infobox organization

| name = Center for Humane Technology

| logo = 280px

| formation = {{start date and age|2018}}

| abbreviation = CHT

| founder = {{Ublist | Tristan Harris | Aza Raskin | Randima (Randy) Fernando}}

| type = Public charity

| tax_id =

| status = 501(c)(3) nonprofit

| headquarters = San Francisco, California, United States

| website = {{URL|https://humanetech.com/}}

}}

The Center for Humane Technology (CHT) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to radically reimagining the digital infrastructure. Its mission is to drive a comprehensive shift toward humane technology that supports the collective well-being, democracy and shared information environment. CHT has diagnosed the systemic harms of the attention economy, which it says include internet addiction, mental health issues, political extremism, political polarization, and misinformation.{{cite web |last=Menn |first=Joseph |date=April 24, 2019 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tech-ethics/technology-ethics-campaigners-offer-plan-to-fight-human-downgrading-idUSKCN1S002A |title=Technology ethics campaigners offer plan to fight 'human downgrading' |work=Reuters |accessdate=May 8, 2019}} The Center for Humane Technology's work focuses on alerting people to technology's impacts on individuals, institutions, and society; identifying ways to address the consequences of technology; encouraging leaders to take action; and providing resources for those interested in humane technology.

Launched in 2018, the organization gained greater awareness after its involvement in the Netflix original documentary The Social Dilemma, which examined how social media's design and business model manipulates people's views, emotions, and behavior and causes addiction, mental health issues, harms to children, disinformation, polarization, and more. The film was watched by 38 million households in its first month, making it the second-most watched documentary on Netflix.{{cite web | last=Moore | first=Kasey | title=Every Viewing Statistic Netflix Has Released So Far (October 2021) | website=What's on Netflix | date=October 25, 2021 | url=https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/every-viewing-statistic-netflix-has-released-so-far-october-2021/ | access-date=August 29, 2022}}

Background

In 2013, Tristan Harris, then a design ethicist at Google,{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/thrive-global/what-if-instead-of-controlling-your-life-your-phone-helped-you-live-it-f20a979c2767|title=What If Your Phone Stopped Controlling Your Life?|first=Drake|last=Baer|date=April 20, 2017}} released a viral presentation titled, "A Call to Minimize Distraction & Respect Users' Attention", a warning about the enormous power tech platforms have over users' attention spans.{{Cite web|url=http://www.minimizedistraction.com/|title=A Call To Minimize Distration|website=www.minimizedistraction.com}} Harris urged companies to take this responsibility seriously.

A year later at TEDx Brussels, Harris introduced "Time Well Spent",{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT5rRh9AZf4|title=Distracted? Let's make technology that helps us spend our time well|first=Tristan|last=Harris|work=TEDxBrussels|date=December 16, 2014 |via=YouTube}} a concept co-created with James Williams and Joe Edelman arguing that technology should be designed in line with users' basic human needs and values, rather than maximizing their time on their devices.

In December 2015, Tristan Harris left his position at Google to focus on alerting the public to the consequences of Silicon Valley's race for attention and culture of growth at all costs.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/11/the-binge-breaker/501122/|title=What Will Break People's Addictions to Their Phones?|first=Bianca|last=Bosker|date=October 8, 2016|website=The Atlantic}}

In 2017, Harris was interviewed for the 60 Minutes episode, "Brain Hacking". to discuss how social media companies hijack biology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brain-hacking-tech-insiders-60-minutes/|title=What is "brain hacking"? Tech insiders on why you should care|website=CBS News|date=April 9, 2017 }} "Every time I check my phone, I'm playing the slot machine to see, 'What did I get?' This is one way to hijack people's minds and create a habit, to form a habit", Harris said. Later that year, Harris shared his expanded thoughts on the problems with social media platforms and how a handful of companies control billions of minds at TED 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_how_a_handful_of_tech_companies_control_billions_of_minds_every_day|title=How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day|first=Tristan|last=Harris|date=July 26, 2017|via=TED}}

Building on this momentum and recognizing the need for an organization in this space, Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin, and Randima (Randy) Fernando founded the Center for Humane Technology in 2018 to educate the public, advise legislators, train technologists, and more.{{Cite web|title=Who We Are|url=https://www.humanetech.com/who-we-are#team|access-date=September 14, 2020|website=Center for Humane Technology}}

Activities

The organization encourages designers and companies to respect users' time and to create products which have, as an end goal, something other than maximizing use of products to sell advertising.{{cite web|last1=O'Brien|first1=Miles|authorlink1=Miles O'Brien (journalist)|title=Your phone is trying to control your life|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/phone-trying-control-life|website=PBS NewsHour|publisher=PBS|access-date=February 1, 2017|date=January 30, 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Bosker|first1=Bianca|title=The Binge Breaker|journal=The Atlantic|date=November 2016|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/11/the-binge-breaker/501122/|accessdate=February 1, 2017}} There are multiple ways that technology companies try to maximize the use of their products: by using an intermittent variable reward system, causing people to fear missing something important, increasing the desire for social approval, strengthening the need to reciprocate others' gestures, and interrupting individuals' daily activities to alert them of a notification. Harris claims that technology parallels slot machines, in that both use intermittent variable rewards to increase addiction.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tristan-harris/how-technology-hijacks-peoples-minds_b_10155754.html|title=How Technology Hijacks People's Minds|last=Harris|first=Tristan|date=May 27, 2016|website=Huffington Post|language=en-US|access-date=April 10, 2017}} According to Harris, companies have a responsibility to reduce this effect, through techniques such as increasing the predictability of their designs and eliminating the intermittent variable reward system all together.

CHT utilizes various mainstream media campaigns and resources, such as their podcast Your Undivided Attention and the documentary The Social Dilemma.{{Cite news|last=Girish|first=Devika|date=September 9, 2020|title='The Social Dilemma' Review: Unplug and Run|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/movies/the-social-dilemma-review.html|access-date=September 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} The organization also aims to influence tech industry culture and practices through training and educational resources, working groups, and advising executives. In 2022, CHT launched the "Foundations of Humane Technology" course directed at supporting technologists and product leaders who are seeking to build more humane technology. As of June 2022, the course had 10,000 participants globally.

Additionally, CHT briefs policymakers to support the creation of the policy architecture that protects society and rewards humane technologies. Notably, Harris has testified in front of the U.S. Congress in regards to the risk of online deception and the manipulative tactics employed by social media platforms.{{Cite web|url=https://energycommerce.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/hearing-on-americans-at-risk-manipulation-and-deception-in-the-digital|title=Hearing on 'Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age'|date=January 8, 2020|website=Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDL9z_lof3Q|title=Tristan Harris – Congressional Hearing|date=January 8, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQMuxNiYoz4|title=Tristan Harris - US Senate June 25, 2019|date=June 27, 2019 |via=YouTube}}

Impact

In a 2018 post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described feeling a "responsibility to make sure our services aren't just fun to use, but also good for people's well-being", announcing "a major change to how we build Facebook" so that time spent on the site is "time well spent".{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10104413015393571 |title=One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent |first=Mark |last=Zuckerberg |website=Facebook}} It has been suggested that this is an allusion to the Time Well Spent movement,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/17/16903844/time-well-spent-facebook-tristan-harris-mark-zuckerberg |title='Time well spent' is shaping up to be tech's next big debate|work=The Verge|access-date=January 19, 2018}} and spurred similar initiatives, such as Apple's Screen Time{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/04/apple-unveils-a-new-set-of-digital-wellness-features-for-better-managing-screen-time/|title=Apple unveils a new set of 'digital wellness' features for better managing screen time|date=June 4, 2018 }} and Google Digital Wellbeing.{{Cite web|url=https://wellbeing.google/|title=Digital Wellbeing through technology | Google|website=Google Digital Wellbeing}}

In 2019, CHT launched Your Undivided Attention, a podcast exploring the power that technology has over humanity and how we can use it to catalyze a humane future.{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanetech.com/podcast|title=Your Undivided Attention Podcast - Center for Humane Technology|website=Center for Humane Technology}} The podcast has featured guests such as historian Yuval Harari,{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/28-two-million-years-in-two-hours-a-conversation-with-yuval-noah-harari|title=28 – Two Million Years in Two Hours: A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari|website=Center for Humane Technology}} Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang,{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/23-digital-democracy-is-within-reach|title=22 – Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang|website=Center for Humane Technology}} and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa.{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/9-the-dictators-playbook|title=9 – The Dictator's Playbook with Maria Ressa|website=Center for Humane Technology}} The podcast has been downloaded 10 million times as of November 2021{{cite web | title=Center For Humane Technology | date=November 2, 2021 | website=Twitter | url=https://twitter.com/HumaneTech_/status/1455610752354693125 | access-date=August 29, 2022}} and is among the most popular technology podcasts.{{Cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/genre/podcasts-technology/id1318|title=Technology - Podcasts Downloads on iTunes|website=podcasts.apple.com}}

In 2020, CHT co-founders Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin, and Randima Fernando were featured in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. Following the documentary's debut, Apple CEO Tim Cook referenced the documentary at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection Conference saying, "It is long past time to stop pretending that this approach doesn't come with a cost – of polarization, of lost trust and, yes, of violence. A social dilemma cannot be allowed to become a social catastrophe."{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-facebook-idUSKBN29X2NB|title=Apple's Tim Cook criticizes social media practices, intensifying Facebook conflict|date=January 28, 2021|work=Reuters}}

In 2021, Harris was named as one of Time magazine's 100 leaders shaping the future.{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2021/5937599/tristan-harris/|title=2021 Time100 Next: Tristan Harris|magazine=Time}} Harris and Raskin, on their podcast Your Undivided Attention, were the first to have a long-form interview with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/42-a-conversation-with-facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen|title=42 - A Conversation with Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen|website=Center for Humane Technology}} after she was revealed to be the source behind The Facebook Files{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039|title=The Facebook Files|date=October 1, 2021|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}} and subsequent Facebook Papers.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/25/what-are-the-facebook-papers/|title=A whistleblower's power: Key takeaways from the Facebook Papers |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Cristiano|last=Lima|date=October 26, 2021|access-date=August 29, 2022}}

In 2022, Harris gave a speech at SXSW in 2022 called "The Wisdom Gap", which outlined how technology is both increasing the interconnectedness of our biggest issues and decreasing our ability to respond with wisdom.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RlhhRfREa0|title=Can We Close the Gap Between Humans and Technology? | Tristan Harris|work=SXSW 2022|date=April 18, 2022 |via=www.youtube.com}} CHT also launched its course, "The Foundations of Humane Technology",{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanetech.com/course|title=Foundations of Humane Technology Course|website=Center for Humane Technology}} a free online course directed at product designers and technologists that has generated more than 10,000 participants in its first several months after launch.{{cite web | title=Center for Humane Technology | date=June 14, 2022 | website=Twitter | url=https://twitter.com/humanetech_/status/1536755565648662532 | access-date=August 29, 2022}}