Tristan Harris, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Center for Humane Technology
Tristan Harris has been called “the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience” by the Atlantic magazine. Prior to founding the new Center for Humane Technology, he was Google's Design Ethicist, developing a framework for how technology should “ethically” steer the thoughts and actions of billions of people from screens. Tristan has spent a decade understanding the invisible influences that hijack human thinking and action. Drawing on literature from addiction, performative magic, social engineering, persuasive design, and behavioral economics.
Aligning technology with humanity’s best interests is the purpose of the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology (CHT), of which Tristan is Co-Founder and Executive Director. In addition to routinely briefing US Congress members, chiefs of state, and CEOs of technology, he also uses mainstream media to mobilize millions of people worldwide.
From his days as a magician in his early years to his studies at Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab and his current role as a Design Ethicist at Google, Tristan has investigated the forces that subvert human attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs. He leads the push for systemic change and analyzes how large digital platforms have a disturbing amount of control over our ability to understand the world.
Tristan was included in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma in 2020, which won two Emmys. The movie showed how social media is drastically altering human society and our brains. It was available in 30 languages and reached over 100 million individuals in 190 countries.
In his capacity as co-host of the wildly popular technology podcast Your Undivided Attention, he delves into the reasons for social media’s attention-grabbing competition, how it’s upending society, and possible remedies.
2023
Harris has shifted his emphasis from the attention economy in recent years in an effort to bridge the divide between the dangers and externalities that come with technology’s rapid advancement and the ability of culture and its institutions to adapt to and effectively mitigate them. This is known by Harris and CHT as “The Wisdom Gap.”
In its November 2016 edition, The Atlantic declared that Harris “is the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience.” Since then, he has been on Fortune’s 25 Ideas that Will Change the Future, Rolling Stone’s 25 People Changing the Future, and Time 100 Next Leaders Shaping 2021 lists. In addition, he shares hosting duties on the podcast Your Undivided Attention.
