Center for Humane Technology

CHT co-founder Tristan Harris was the featured speaker at this year’s Ashok C. Sani Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence Lecture at the NYU Stern Business School. He shared his perspective on the challenges that the rapid progress of AI poses to our society but also the opportunity it presents for us to bring about a more humane future. Check out the full lecture here: https://lnkd.in/eyrR3dfC

2024 was a critical year in both AI and social media. Things moved so fast it was hard to keep up. So our hosts Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin reached into their mailbag to answer some of your most burning questions–plus a guest appearance from Camille Carlton and Casey Mock on our policy team. Check it out at the links below. WATCH: https://bit.ly/3ZXfaeG LISTEN: https://bit.ly/3DoK0nJ Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions. We will see you all in the new year.

Are you looking for an exciting new role next year? CHT is searching for our new Director of Philanthropy. Are you a highly energetic, relationship-driven, and growth-oriented fundraiser with an authentic passion for humane technology and philanthropy? Do you know someone who is? * Take your time and apply over the end-of-year break - we'll be reading applications in the new year. * You must be a US citizen and based in the US. https://lnkd.in/gSW-icX9

CHT’S Camille Carlton is an expert advisor on two high-profile lawsuits against Character.AI.  Here’s what you need to know about the app and how it works. 

We commend Texas Attorney General for leading the way and launching an investigation into Character.AI and 13 other tech companies. Center for Humane Technology is providing expert consultation on two lawsuits involving Character.AI’s harms to young users. The most recent of those cases, A.F. and A.R. v. Character Technologies Inc., et al, was filed Monday in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas. CHT Policy Director Camille Carlton says: “Character.AI recklessly marketed an addictive and predatory product to children — putting their lives at risk to collect and exploit their most private data. From Florida to Texas and beyond, we’re now seeing the devastating consequences of Character.AI’s negligent behavior. No tech company should benefit or profit from designing products that abuse children.”

CHT is #hiring! Know anyone who might be interested?

Early this morning, a second case was filed against Character.AI, its founders and Google. This case makes it clear that these are not just one-off instances of harm, but evidence of the systemic nature by which this product is harming users. As a technical advisor to both cases with my colleagues at the Center for Humane Technology, I've seen the ways in which these products are intentionally designed to captivate and manipulate users' attention and trust. And the ways in which this trust can drive users to extreme actions, such as drastic behavioral changes and self-harm in the case of J.F. and the untimely death of Sewell Setzer. These are tragic examples of the ways in which the AI race—a race to deploy products, maximize engagement, and harvest user data—is playing out in our society. It also speaks to the need for concrete policy interventions, such as product liability, to hold developers accountable for the myriad of clearly foreseeable harms caused by their products. For more information on the case, there's been some excellent reporting already, which is linked in a comment below. For those interested in policy solutions, I'm also linking to CHT's proposed framework.

Check out this conversation between Casey Mock and Johanna Weaver! https://lnkd.in/gXtfv9w3

We’re #hiring. CHT is searching for a Director of Philanthropy to lead our fundraising strategy. This is a role for someone with ten+ years in fundraising and experience with high $ donors. Does it sound like you or someone you know? Please share widely! https://lnkd.in/gSW-icX9

CHT's Casey Mock is in Australia this week, talking to a range of experts about social media, design codes, and companion AI. Johanna Weaver Zoe Jay Hawkins Daria Impiombato Australian Strategic Policy Institute David Wroe https://lnkd.in/gKhzzZDu