Seeds of change
How our hackers' enthusiasm for humane technology is sparking a movement
What does it mean to birth a movement? While we need someone to organize around, the seeds must exist inside of us — each one of us. A space is created, and we follow the call to stand in the sunshine and grow.
That’s exactly what happened at our hackathon last weekend. Instead of the typical “eat pizza, build an app, get a prize” vibe, we took a different approach. Why? We want to create durable artifacts — tools people can use so that building in ways that do not harm our democracy, our sanity, and our mental health becomes the easy path. Want to join us? Contribute to our OSS or join our next hackathon.
But why am I calling this a movement? The energy in the room was palpable throughout the day: vibrant, bright, and enthusiastic. Everyone present had completely bought into our “build tools for builders” approach in order to effect change. During our retrospective with participants, the consistent “longed for” was more time to connect with each other.
So many of us care so much about the direction tech takes, and all signs point to us being at an important turning point. How can we blend the business of AI with stewardship for humankind?
Our hypothesis is that when builders get the tools they need, they can act on their intentions. We know that business model plays a big role, so these tools are likely easier to apply in early-stage startups or values-aligned orgs. Because AI takes center stage, we’re building HumaneBench.ai to evaluate how effectively LLMs support well-being.
To begin: connect
In a light-filled space in SoMa, we began by connecting in pairs to share a moment from our lives, asking each other, “When’s the last time you felt cared for, fulfilled, connected or present?”
We do this both to reconnect to our humanity and to bring the four promises of humane technology to our own lives. Then we dove into our GitHub kanban with the tracks for our hackathon — you’re welcome to add to it anytime.
What our hackers built
The first prize went to Humane Ed Tech for empowering parents, learners, and teachers alike to choose and build tech tools that prioritize durable learning, focus, and the learner’s own autonomy.
Demo: Evaluating online educational platforms using the humane ed tech model.
Congrats to the team: Rainbow, Belinda Liu, Olasile Abolade, Pamela Quartson and Mati Piatkowski. Special shout-out to Rainbow, whose team got an honorable mention at our last hackathon. To go deeper, look closely at the rubrics or dive into the Figma.
Second place went to Team Alma for their vision of how AI chatbots can help humans pause between prompts by developing stopping cues — think of Aza Raskin’s call to introduce friction vs infinite scroll. Congrats to Candace Lee, Roddsi Sarkar, Evode Manirahari, and Mark Lovell.
Demo: Using the “blonde Oreo” experiment to remind users to pause.
In this case, introducing friction is one way to address the tendency for users to get lost in conversational “rabbit holes.” We can get so immersed that we lose track of time and perspective.
In third place: an “Emotional Intelligence” analyzer tool, which won for its commitment to understanding human emotions. Congrats to Erik Habecker for his one-man band approach to creating a framework and getting it into production in the same day. How did he do it? Claude Code, Codex, and Replit, if memory serves.
Demo: Taking cues from emotionally loaded statements to analyze human emotions
Where we go from here
These humane tools and models put humanity in the center, answering the question of how our tools cannot only stop harming us but also actively help us heal. And they’re just the start — we have so much work to do, but there’s no better work than this.
What we are building is not merely an alternative to extractive tech; it is an infrastructure of care. For too long, the default has been to optimize for engagement at the cost of well-being, to scale systems without accounting for their human impact. We aim to change that.
It was really beautiful to see everybody come together for a common purpose: to make the world a better place.
- Kshama Nitin Shah
As an AI algorithm developer, Kshama joined our first-ever hackathon in June as a participant, and in this hack, she embraced the role of becoming a mentor, guiding and helping other builders create tech that cares for and fulfills humanity.
We didn’t leave with a sense of finality but of profound beginning. People are continuing to show up to build a library of practices. And so it was an invitation—a call for us and everyone to become architects of a more humane digital world.
The path forward is not about finding a single perfect solution, but about cultivating a continuous, collective practice of thoughtful creation. And then, eventually, answering the next question: Can these frameworks move from the margins to the mainstream? Can “humane tech” become simply “tech”?
If you’re a builder who cares about human impact, I hope you’ll join us next time. Because the world needs more Saturdays like this one—where the question isn’t “can we build it?” but “should we build it this way?”
How will you bring humane tech principles into what you’re building?
Gratitude & Acknowledgments
Deep appreciation for OpenAI’s Daniel Bashir, PicnicHealth’s Sébastien Kerbrat, and METR’s Nikola Jurkovic, who served as judges for the competition; for the mentorship of Daylight Computer’s Christine Zhang, Stoneridge’s Kshama Nitin Shah and Sarah Ladyman; for the space, thanks to our friends at Pareto.ai and Bobyard.
And to every participant who spent their Saturday hacking with us: your collective creativity, deep thoughtfulness, and collaborative spirit made the day truly extraordinary. Thank you for being the heart of this humane movement!
It was my first SF hackathon and the event's flow was so smooth and well-designed!! Really enjoyed participating, grateful we have our focus on humane tech, and such friendly vibes!
So energized by the ideas of Humane Ed Tech! I'm sharing with my spouse, a physics professor. I think this is so impactful. Thank you to all the hackathon participants!