Center for Humane Technology

Why we’re featuring them

Center for Humane Technology is relevant to A Light for Humanity because it connects a question about technology with a deeper question about human agency: what happens when powerful systems are designed around incentives that do not necessarily align with the wellbeing of the people and societies using them? CHT’s work offers a practical entry point into the relationship between technology design, psychology, institutions and collective decision-making. Our interest here is not an endorsement of every diagnosis or proposal CHT advances, but an invitation to examine a body of work that directly asks how technology can better serve society.

The challenge they address

CHT argues that many harms associated with social media and artificial intelligence are not isolated product mistakes. Its diagnosis centres on the incentives that shape how consequential technologies are designed, developed and deployed. On its current CHT Perspective page, the organisation says it works to expose the incentive structures driving social media and AI and to make those systems more accountable.

For social media, CHT has long focused on business and product incentives that reward attention and engagement. Its analysis is that these incentives can encourage designs that exploit predictable features of human psychology and can have consequences for relationships, mental health, public discourse and shared understanding. With AI, CHT applies a similar systems lens to questions including safety, product responsibility, human-like design, work, rights, international coordination and concentrations of power, set out most explicitly in its AI Roadmap.

These are broad and sometimes contested areas of research and policy. This profile therefore distinguishes CHT’s diagnosis from independently demonstrated effects. Before publication, claims about the scale, causes or social consequences of particular technologies should be supported with evidence appropriate to the specific claim rather than treated as established because CHT states them.

Their vision and key ideas

CHT frames its mission around a simple question: how can technology better serve society? Its current theory of change combines two moves: creating clarity about the systems and incentives behind technology, and then attempting to transform those incentives through interventions.

Several recurring ideas run through its work:

• Incentives shape design. Product behaviour cannot be understood only by looking at individual features; business models, competition and institutional incentives influence what gets built and optimised.
• Human psychology is part of the design environment. CHT argues that technology should respect human vulnerabilities rather than exploit them for attention, engagement or dependency.
• Consequential technologies need responsibility proportionate to their power. In its 2026 AI Roadmap, CHT calls for stronger safety, transparency, duties of care and public accountability.
• Humane technology is not only about individual screen habits. CHT’s framing extends to institutions, culture, public discourse, rights and collective decision-making.
• Change needs several levers at once. The organisation works across public communication, policy, litigation and technical/design thinking rather than presenting a single intervention as sufficient.

What they do

CHT currently describes its work as operating across media, policy and technology. Its public-awareness work includes the Your Undivided Attention podcast, educational resources and media projects. Its policy work seeks structural changes to the incentives surrounding social media and AI. Its wider theory of change also includes strategic litigation and technical or design interventions intended to make risks and alternatives more concrete.

The organisation has also developed educational material for technology builders. Its Foundations of Humane Technology course is presently paused while a new version is developed; Version 1 slides remain available, and CHT is inviting people to register for updates.

Work and progress

Several visible pieces of work illustrate CHT’s approach:

The Social Dilemma. The 2020 Netflix documentary brought attention-economy and persuasive-design arguments to a mass audience and prominently featured Tristan Harris and related analysis. CHT presents the film as an important part of its public-awareness work. The film’s reach is evidence of audience exposure, but audience size on its own should not be treated as proof of lasting behaviour change or policy impact.

The AI Roadmap. Published in 2026, the roadmap sets out seven principles covering safety and transparency, duties of care, human wellbeing, meaningful work, rights and freedoms, international limits, and the distribution of AI power. It is useful as a concrete statement of CHT’s current policy and design direction.

Policy, litigation and briefings. CHT says it works on legislative frameworks, strategic litigation and briefings for public officials. These are important activities to document, but this draft does not yet claim that CHT caused specific policy outcomes. A publication-ready impact section should identify particular interventions, dates, counterparties and independent evidence where available.

Public education. CHT continues to publish Your Undivided Attention and educational material intended to help people understand technology’s incentives and social effects. This is clearly evidenced activity. Claims about its effect on public understanding should be supported separately.

The profile remains deliberately conservative here: activity, reach and demonstrated outcome are different kinds of evidence and should not be collapsed into one measure of impact.

Start here

Three entry points chosen to reveal different parts of CHT's work: its humane-technology principles, its social-media analysis and its current AI proposals.

Explore their work

Get involved

CHT's careers page was checked on 22 September 2026 and stated that there were no open positions at that time.

People and background

CHT says it was founded in 2018 by Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin and Randima Fernando. Its current team page lists the following leadership and founders:

• Tristan Harris — Co-Founder & President
• Julie Guirado — Executive Director
• Aza Raskin — Co-Founder
• Randima Fernando — Co-Founder

Governance and filing links:

• Team and board
• Independent IRS-derived filing record

Related exploration

Related organisations will be added only after their connection has been researched and explained. Shared tags alone will not be presented as endorsement, partnership or equivalence.

About this profile

Last reviewed

2026-09-22

Written by

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Reviewed by

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Fact-checked by

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Sources checked

1. The CHT Perspective (primary; checked 2026-09-22)
2. How Change Happens (primary; checked 2026-09-22)
3. Impact and Story (primary; checked 2026-09-22)
4. Team and Board (primary; checked 2026-09-22)
5. Contact (primary; checked 2026-09-22)
6. Careers (primary; checked 2026-09-22)
7. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (independent; checked 2026-09-22)
8. Netflix — The Social Dilemma (independent; checked 2026-09-22)

Before publication