Policy Work

We envision a world with technology that respects our attention, improves our well-being, and strengthens communities.

Our Aims

Our Policy team drives incentive-shifting policy outcomes by shaping the discourse and lending expertise across strategic intervention points.

We combine big-picture thinking with practical advice to influence decision-makers, offering our expertise to policymakers, governments, legal teams, and other key stakeholders. Our work ranges from supporting state laws to participating in high-level discussions with federal lawmakers. We're invited to educate lawmakers and their staff on emerging technologies, providing not just explanations of these issues but pointing towards practical solutions.

By fostering nuanced, informed discussions and focusing on long-term, scalable approaches, we're building a foundation for lasting change that adapts to the rapidly evolving tech landscape, aiming to create policies that better serve people and society.

Government & Policy Advisory

Our policy team advises policymakers, governments, legal teams, and other key decision-makers to help develop and implement practical and powerful policy interventions. Our advisory work is adaptive to need and takes many forms, such as:
Participating in high-level policy conversations, like the Senate’s inaugural bipartisan AI Insight Forum.
Consulting government bodies directly, both behind the scenes and through Public Commissions.
Supporting coalitions and legislators in passing state-level bills, such as the Vermont Kids Code.

Thought Leadership

Our policy team offers nuanced thought leadership work aimed at educating decision-makers and the public in order to shape the policy discourse and shift policy outcomes.

Framework: Incentivizing Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Use

Developed a federal framework establishing clear guidelines for responsible AI development and deployment. Our framework focuses on safety and accountability, balancing innovation and protection.

Report: Technology, Power, and the Future of Governance

Submitted a report to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to inform the quadrennial Global Trends report, which is designed to provide an analytic framework for policymakers early in each administration.

Amicus: The Importance of Design in Regulating Social Media and AI

Filed an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Bonta in NetChoice v. Bonta. The brief highlights the importance of a design-based approach for sufficiently regulating advanced digital technologies such as social media and artificial intelligence.

Timeline of Notable Achievements

CHT expands its focus from the attention economy to extractive, runaway technology

Two of our co-founders explain the importance of addressing all extractive technology in our podcast episode “Here’s Our Plan And We Don’t Know”
At SXSW, Tristan Harris introduces “The Wisdom Gap” framework for understanding the “meta-crisis” that is exacerbated by runaway technology
After 12+ months of development, CHT launches Foundations of Humane Technology as a free course for product teams. Over 10,000 people register in its opening months
​​CHT explores ways to support the emerging humane tech financing ecosystem and signs on as an advisor to the BeKind Tech Fund
CHT continues to ​​explore ecosystem-shifting solutions with partners such as Integrity Institute and Frances Haugen
Tristan Harris appears on 60 Minutes days before the critical US midterm elections to explain how social media is undermining democracy

CHT shares expertise while developing new resources for technologists, parents, and educators

Tristan Harris is named as a TIME100 leader shaping the future
CHT develops its first course, Foundations of Humane Technology, condensing its expertise on how to build humane technology into an 8-hour credentialed course. It leverages 100s of beta testers to fine-tune the curriculum
CHT releases its Youth Toolkit, which is designed for young people ages 15-24
Tristan Harris testifies in a Senate Hearing on “The Hidden Risks of Technology”
CHT continues building awareness outlets, with appearances including The Daily Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and The Joe Rogan Experience

CHT’s mission moves mainstream, reaching over 100 million people in 190 countries

CHT supports the development and release of the record-shattering Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma from director Jeff Orlowski-Yang on the existential threats posed by social media. The film later wins 2 Emmy’s
Tristan Harris testifies in a House hearing on Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age
Tristan Harris presents at World Economic Forum in Davos, including “Tech Cannot be Trusted to Self-Regulate” debate and a NYT panel with Yuval Harari

CHT brings awareness to the systemic harms of the attention economy

CHT releases New York Times op-ed: Our Brains Are No Match for Our Technology
Tristan Harris is featured in Fortune's 25 Ideas That Will Shape the 2020s, among world leaders including Malala Yousafzai, Jamie Dimon, and Melinda Gates
CHT publishes its Ledger of Harms, which summarizes the latest research on extractive technology’s negative impacts on children, mental health, relationships, attention and cognition, sense-making, politics and elections, systemic oppression and more

Center for Humane Technology (CHT) is founded to build on the success of the Time Well Spent movement

Center for Humane Technology is co-founded by Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin, and Randima Fernando
Time well spent’ becomes tech’s next big debate

Major tech platforms announce new Time Well Spent features

Mark Zuckerberg on changes to its News Feed: “One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent
Google announces new initiative to improve digital wellbeing
YouTube releases “time watched” metric and “take a break” notification
Instagram introduces “You’re All Caught Up” checkmark
Apple introduces a dashboard, app limits, and additional parental controls

policy principles

Humane Policy Principles guide our thinking around the development and evaluation of effective legislative, regulatory, and other policy-related work.

These principles are cross-disciplinary — informed by systems thinking, participatory design, development, and the work of experts such as Dr. Donella Meadows and Shoshana Zuboff.

policy Team

Camille Carlton

Policy Director
Camille Carlton
Policy Director

Camille is the Policy Director at Center for Humane Technology. In this role, she steers the organization’s policy strategy, supporting policy initiatives that help align technology with the public interest.

Named Business Insider's AI 100 in 2023, Camille has been published in outlets such as Science and Tech Policy Press and has been featured in The New York Times. Before joining CHT, Camille examined issues of platform power and accountability, governance, and shared prosperity at UC Berkeley.

Camille is an Aspen Tech Policy Hub Fellow and holds a master’s degree in economic development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Pete Furlong

Lead Policy Researcher
Pete Furlong
Lead Policy Researcher

Pete is the Lead Policy Researcher at the Center for Humane Technology. In this role, he helps provide the foundational analysis and research that underpins CHT’s policy approach.

With a Master’s concentrating in mechatronic design from the University of Pennsylvania, Pete spent the first stage of his career focused on hardware development for robotics, drones, and autonomous systems at a high tech startup. Instead of engineering new technologies, he has since pivoted to focus on the policy drivers and incentives that shape our technology ecosystem. He leverages his expertise and understanding of the technology industry to drive effective policy change.

Previous to joining CHT, he worked at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where his work focused on the geopolitical challenges emerging from the global internet and artificial intelligence. This included analyzing global AI governance, internet infrastructure, and the role of technology companies as geopolitical actors.

Lizzie Irwin

Public Affairs Coordinator
Lizzie Irwin
Public Affairs Coordinator

Lizzie is the Public Affairs Coordinator at the Center for Humane Technology. She is passionately curious about the intricate relationship between media, technology, and politics. She has extensive research experience across intersecting issues in media and communication, including online misinformation and extremism, sustainability and internet infrastructures, and digital rights. Lizzie is a New Jersey native and holds a master’s degree in media and communication governance from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree in political communication from the George Washington University.

Casey Mock

Chief Policy & Public Affairs Officer
Casey Mock
Chief Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Casey is an attorney and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. He has served governors of both parties: as a state senate-confirmed appointee of Governor Phil Scott to lead the Vermont Economic Progress Council, and as a director of budget policy and analysis during Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s administration. Casey also spent nearly 4 years on the public policy team at Amazon and led nationwide state and local tax policy for the company.

Earlier in his career, he specialized in field operations for USAID-funded local governance strengthening and rural development programs in settings like Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe.

Casey’s works of creative nonfiction were past selections as a finalist for the Santa Fe Writers Project Non-fiction Literary Award and a semi-finalist for the Tucson Festival of Books Non-fiction Literary Award. His writing has appeared in Bethesda Magazine and Reed Magazine.