From Tech Dystopia to Humane Futures
Join the humane tech movement by committing to a single action, big or small
As a good friend said to me last week, “It’s all in the how.”
We were wrestling with how to bring humane design principles into my early-stage startup, something I’ve been wanting to do for months. As Chief Customer Officer, I’ve prioritized the needs of our enterprise users, not wanting to take a minute of our engineers’ time away from building. Once we had the initial feature set, I invited product designers, product managers, and UX researchers to join our crew in an effort to make our platform more humane. It was incredible to see everyone’s ingenuity and passion (which you’re welcome to weigh in on). As one UX researcher said, “[Making a humane UX for Gen AI] is going to take all of us.”
Which brings us back to the “how.” How do we do it? How do we ensure we’re asking the right questions? Bring wonder and awareness? Build the world we’ve been waiting for?
One brave deed is worth a hundred books, a thousand theories, a million words.
-Edward Abbey, environmentalist
This desire for change is what brought together a diverse crowd at our most recent humane tech meetup, which took place the day after our UX workshop. Who came? Software engineers, startup founders, UX/UI designers, researchers and academics, digital creators, communications consultants, executive coaches, and students. Beyond those directly involved in the tech industry, individuals with interests in community building, health, and personal development came, too, demonstrating a broad appeal.
So, what is humane technology? It can seem nebulous and ‘feel good’ but ultimately too abstract. Let’s start with what it’s not:
attention-extracting social media, leveraging our infinite ability to be distracted
electric cars removing physical buttons to be touchscreen-only
companion chatbots lacking guardrails, leading to teen suicide
Okay, now let’s move into examples of humane tech:
smartwatches monitoring health, detecting early signs of heart disease
batched notifications on iOS, meaning fewer interruptions and more focus
hands-free navigation, minimizing distraction, leading to fewer car accidents
But how do you define humane tech? Being incredibly impact-aware. As a builder, what’s the impact of the tech I’m building? As a user, what’s the impact of the tech I’m using? It means being aware of my choices with technology. At Building Humane Technology, we’re exploring how to bring these questions and the resulting practices into the world.
To learn actionable strategies to implement humane tech, read these case studies:
At last night’s meetup, we began by connecting with each other on the level of story—not our LinkedIn profiles, but rather this construct from movement theorist Marshall Ganz, as we followed the Center for Humane Technology’s final module in their Foundations in Humane Tech course. If we want to enact change, we have to remember we’ve done it before. Ganz’ storytelling framework:
Challenge — what is a challenge that you have faced and that those listening might face?
Choice — What’s a choice you made to address that challenge?
Outcome — what is an impact, even a small one, of having made that choice?
Everyone had a courageous story to share. Here’s a sampling:
A software engineer who was initially anxious about sharing his interests in mindfulness and self-discovery with his colleagues found that many others were also interested, leading to a more open and supportive work environment. This aligns with humane technology by fostering a culture of openness and shared understanding.
A PhD at Berkeley recalled how, as a 16-year-old, he navigated the healthcare system to ensure his grandmother received comfortable hospice care during her final days. This showcases how technology (in this case, accessing and understanding healthcare information) can be used to support vulnerable individuals with love and dignity.
An immigrant from Ukraine came to the US and overcame misconceptions about women's skills in technical and management fields. She thrived in her studies and career and embraced a Ukrainian-American identity, reflecting a move towards inclusivity and understanding.
We explored the principles of humane technology, which always brings me to this diagram, based on the work of Donella Meadows. Because technology as we know it is effectively a system. As Meadows asserts, to change a system, you need to find the many leverage points, and then move things in the direction of a paradigm shift. If that seems impossible, remember that many things have seemed impossible until they are done.
As we took it all in, we imagined the world we wanted to see and translated our vision into a path forward, beginning with a single action. To follow along, ask yourself:
What does the world need?
What issues do you care about most?
The Gap: How big is the gap between your life today and what you most care about and believe? Small, considerable, large?
What values do you cherish most? Choose 1-3 values on this framework’s second page.
Which of your values matches least with your work or your life? Why do you think that is?
How might humane technology help you shrink the gap?
Imagine a world where you could live in concert with your values, and your efforts supported others to do the same. How might the rhythms of daily life be different? How might the impact of your work be different? How might you experience that impact? How is technology present in this imagined reality? How is it absent?
What concrete steps could you take to reduce your gap? What could you change today, this week, this month, this year? Make it SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
What participants came up with:
Replace a bad phone habit with a healthier one: A product designer mentioned wanting to get off her phone more and having her eyeballs be her own. She committed to replacing the habit of clicking on Instagram with clicking on their Kindle app, aiming to trigger the new habit by placing the book app in a visible spot.
Develop a platform for constructive communication: A researcher shared an idea to set up an AI-moderated platform designed to promote more generous and receptive communication. The AI would be used to fact-check assertions and flag emotional content, as extracted from the transcript.
Learn about the local energy network: An engineer interested in sustainable energy committed to walking around his neighborhood to learn more about the system supporting his access to the energy grid. He also found an accountability partner to make sure he follows through.
What’s my next concrete action? Hosting a monthly “Builder’s Cohort” in humane technology. What will we do? Builders will demo their work and receive feedback on how to better integrate humane tech principles into their work.
Come to our inaugural Builder’s Cohort on April 9th
Extra: Want to demo your product? Fill out this form so we can plan.
How can you help this movement grow?
Get Building Humane Tech on a podcast
Attend humane tech events
Bring humane tech trainings into your workplace — I’ve led trainings at OpenAI, IDEO and Storytell.ai
Suggest speakers for future humane tech events
Share examples of humane technology in the world
What action will you take? Let us know!
Final words of gratitude. Expressing my appreciation for:
Pylon, for offering your office space for the event
UpHonest Capital, for sponsoring our events
Everyone who attended
It’s not every night that we explore practical solutions and foster a collective commitment to building a more humane technological future, but it could be.
I am convinced that no builders want to cause harm. While some harm is inevitable, without awareness, harm scales to disastrous outcomes. So let’s build awareness, because we want a world where instead of numbing our consciousness, tech awakens us, connecting us to bigger parts of ourselves.