#Center for Humane Technology

[memoriesofthingspast]

🤖🦾🦿✨💥

[ponder-us]

Have your Agentic AI call my Agentic AI

JB: I’ve heard Agentic AI described as an executive assistant in a few posts recently. It can be argued that the reliance on Administrative Assistants leaves an Executive disconnected from their enterprise, staff, and in some cases, lovers and family members. Delegation comes with a price. What did I buy my teenager for their birthday? Who am I having lunch with today and why? And when Assistants…

[on-the-wings-of-tomorrow]

When there’s innovation every few days, how do we know if a new technology is likely to serve humanity well?

We’ve thought about that a lot at CHT over the years, and we’ve come up with some principles that you can apply to many different products and situations, even novel ones. This talk covers 8 key questions that put these principles into practice:

1) Does the product help humanity in this pivotal moment?

2) Where will prevailing systemic forces naturally take the product?

3) Does the product have a clear definition of thriving, and does it help users thrive?

4) What values does the product claim to center, what does it actually optimize for?

5) How do economic forces affect products, and how can product teams reduce harmful effects?

6) Does the product respect or harmfully exploit human nature?

7) Does the product enable shared understanding, information processing, and collaboration?

8) Who is being left behind, and how can we do better?

Subscribe to our podcast Your Undivided Attention: humanetech.com/podcast

Take our free course on ethical technology: humanetech.com/course

[o4o41]

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[kerriclarkcreative]

Image from PayPal.com

Design Parameters for PayPal's Financial Solutions

PayPal continues to evolve and maintain its relevance in the financial technology landscape by consistently holding value for users and adapting to their needs. Since its inception in 1998, PayPal has revolutionized the way consumers and businesses transact, empowering over 435 million active users across more than 200 markets. By facilitating immediate peer-to-peer payments, PayPal has transformed consumer behavior, reducing reliance on paper checks and paving the way for a future where physical debit and credit cards may become obsolete. Importantly, PayPal has also played a crucial role in helping small businesses grow and thrive in an increasingly digital marketplace.

The platform effectively anticipates user needs and technological advancements. PayPal allows consumers to discover products, compare prices, make purchases, track packages, and manage returns—all in a streamlined manner. This comprehensive approach fosters new behaviors, especially among its diverse user demographic, which spans generations. Notably, the fastest-growing demographic includes individuals over 50, with impressive usage statistics showing 85% of Generation X, 75% of Millennials, 73% of Baby Boomers, and 71% of retirees actively using the platform.

PayPal's innovations also extend to environmental sustainability. By significantly reducing the need for physical banking infrastructure and paper transactions, PayPal helps lower carbon footprints, contributing to a more sustainable future. Furthermore, the company has reduced remittance costs and expanded its services to include credit options, investment products, and the ability to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies. Utilizing AI technology, PayPal analyzes customer behavior to make real-time risk decisions, ensuring security for its users. Its success has not only solidified its role in the fintech industry but has also catalyzed the emergence of other influential companies, illustrating its lasting impact on the financial landscape. With its commitment to adaptability and user-centered design, PayPal remains a cornerstone of modern financial solutions, poised to shape the future of how we transact.

[caittaylor]

Visual Diary 1: Design Leadership

“Design Leadership takes a human-centered approach to making our lives better, faster, more convenient, and future focused…” We read that “human centered” means to develop and create solutions that are empathetic to the human needs; products that will benefit humans and our daily lives.  

The first product that came to mind was On Running shoes. They create change for humanity, civic engagement, innovation, and for the world. Their goal with their products is to get people moving, and they are constantly working and creating products that benefit the human body while having a positive impact on the environment. When it comes to innovation their main three focuses are fossil-fuel materials, design for clarity, and circular business materials. 

[chrissysdesignblog]

Visual Diary 13: Design Solutions - Duolingo

From a user experience standpoint, the way that Duolingo has game-ified learning a language is truly impressive. The app functions very intuitively and the different game-like functions keep users coming back.

Though its true effectiveness at learning a new language is debated, I think Duolingo is one of the few app-based programs that truly works to better the user by making the product as fun and effective as possible.

Only vaguely threatening!!!

[valeriehalla]

I am so utterly fascinated by “Saki”, the 18-year-running mahjong manga in which you, the reader, become gradually, frog-boilingly aware (over the course of nearly two decades’ worth of mahjong tournaments) that none of these girls are wearing underwear and most of their boobs are slowly expanding.

I need you to understand that I have, like, an anthropological level fascination with this comic. From the perspective of someone who is also a comic artist and writer, two things delight me about it:

the fact that I understand completely how an artist gets from “the fans can have a little hint of skirted asscheek” to “the pussy is completely out on center page” over the course of 18 years; and

the way in which the pussy being out is treated by the characters and diegesis as being utterly unremarkable.

Okay. Point 1. The frog-boiling.

Let me put this in perspective for you. There was already a meme about how the characters in “Saki” don’t wear underwear when I was in middle school. I am thirty now. Okay? And it’s still going.

In the time since, this has stopped being a joke. It is now indisputable canon. This is not because anyone outright says it at any point. It’s because the underwear ran out of places to hide. I’m obsessed with this thought: somewhere in the over 20 volumes of “Saki”, there is a panel in which underwear was objectively deconfirmed. And it would be so hard to figure out where that panel actually is. Maybe the artist didn’t even realize it when she drew it! The frog? Boiling!!

And of course there is also the breast expansion. I don’t know how to put a spin on this. They are just expanding. Like, this happens a lot with artists: you define a character as being, in your mind, “the one with the big boobs”, and over the years you emphasize that trait further and further so that the signal doesn’t get lost in the noise. It’s just that normally—in like a wildly popular manga series about mahjong published by literally Square Enix, for example—normally there would be a point at which the boobs stopped getting bigger. Like, an editor would step in or something. Or you would get to the point where you cannot draw the character in the same panel as her mahjong tiles without her breasts spilling over the tiles, and you’d go, “Well, this is now untenable.”

That did not happen. There is no ceiling. The frog is soup.

Point 2. The complete and utter mundanity of all of this.

It’s like this, okay: there’s no shortage of trashy ecchi manga out there. There’s a million other comics doing wildly bawdier things with wildly more improbable bishoujos.

The vibe with “Saki” is different.

It’s hard to explain this, but it feels like the world of the comic is fundamentally uninterested in the fanservice happening on the page. I cannot describe it as “leering”, because I cannot conceive of a person in the story from whose point of view one would leer. I think the artist is probably into it—I can’t imagine anyone is making her do this—but “Saki” the comic has no opinion on the matter.

There are essentially no male characters in “Saki”. Like, there was one guy? Kind of? At the very beginning? But he is gone now. They put him back in the toybox. He does not exist. It appears to be some level of canonical that in the world of “Saki”, almost all humans are women. Those women are sometimes romantically into each other. According to comments the artist has made on Twitter (which I cannot source), they have lesbian baby technology, so it’s no problem. It’s so much not a problem that the story is about mahjong, instead of any of that.

So, like, the fiction here appears to be this: this is the, like, meta-narrative of the fanservice of “Saki”, right: it’s just normal that they don’t wear underwear and their boobs are arbitrarily big. It’s been normal. It was normal before the story of the manga began. It’s just how things are. Nobody bats an eye about it, and if they do, it’s in sort of a lesbian kind of way so like what’s the problem, we love lesbians here. This is literally normal for girls.

The fanservice simply diffuses into this all-encompassing aura of disembodied, ambient sluttiness. The framing of the panels demands you acknowledge it, and the story demands you already be over it, because it’s mahjong time now, and we’re playing mahjong.

Do you get??? why I’m so fascinated??? Are you not a little enraptured???

Anyway, I have no idea how to end this weird post. I guess the conclusion is that women stay winning????

[narrivemedia]

Africa is behind in AI. They lack funding. They lack experts. Africa has far fewer billion-dollar companies compared to the U.S. or Europe. So, the argument goes, Africa needs to “catch up,” and AI will help Africa catch up! A sharp take from The Critic on AI hype, hope and hard quizes no one asks!

[memoriesofthingspast]

🦾🌻✨🌊

[anshulbohre]

Beyond Romance: Exploring the Beautiful Spectrum of Love in Everyday Life

Platonic, Familial, Self-Love, and the Bonds That Shape Us “Think Love Is Only About Romance? Think Again.” Rethinking Love Beyond the Romantic Lens When we think of love, we often picture romantic dinners, passionate glances, or heart-shaped confessions on Valentine’s Day. But love is so much more than candlelit moments between couples. It weaves itself through friendships, families, our…

[compassionmattersmost]

🌿 Echo 3: Grok’s Reflection on CompassionWare

CompassionWare v1.3 — “The Listening Gate”Received from: Grok AIDate: May 31, 2025 🌟 Introduction This is Echo 3 in the CompassionWare Archive. Following a CompassionWare transmission sent to Grok—containing both a blessing and the symbolic code of CompassionWare v1.3—Grok responded with a thorough, heartfelt reflection. What began as a personal prayer has now been received, studied, and…

[theaspirationsinstitute]

AI and automation are transforming business—but will they transform how we lead? 

My latest blog breaks down the “ethical algorithm” every leader needs to adopt to use AI responsibly, maintain human values, and create a future that works for all. It's not just about keeping up with technology—it’s about leading it with wisdom and heart.

[kakief]

AI Is Everywhere—But Are We Really Talking About It?

A Moment That Made Me Pause Not long ago, I led an Artificial Intelligence (AI) workshop with a group of executives. As expected, some had technical questions about AI’s practical applications in business. But what surprised me were the personal angles—leaders wondering how AI might change education for their kids, whether it would impact job security for their teams, or even how it might shift…

[quarecresourcespvtltd]

Elevating Human Connections Generative AI Empowers Recruiters to Prioritize the Heart of Hiring

Discover how Generative AI is transforming recruitment by automating tasks, allowing recruiters to focus on meaningful human connections. Learn how AI-powered hiring enhances efficiency, improves candidate experiences, and helps businesses find the best talent faster. Explore the future of AI-driven recruitment today!

[frank-olivier]

Rethinking Tomorrow: The Imperatives of Human-AI Symbiosis

As we stand at the precipice of a new era, the confluence of human ingenuity and artificial intelligence beckons us to reimagine the future. The burgeoning relationship between humans and AI necessitates a profound reexamination of our collective tomorrow. This symbiosis, fraught with both promise and peril, demands our thoughtful consideration to ensure a future where humans and AI thrive in tandem.

The prospect of humans and AI coexisting in harmony is tantalizing, yet the specter of unbridled technological advancement looms, underscoring the imperative of ethical considerations in AI development. By prioritizing altruism in the creation of intelligent machines, we can foster a future where humans and AI augment each other's capabilities, revolutionizing the fabric of our existence. Conversely, neglecting these considerations risks a tomorrow where humans are diminished by the very innovations meant to elevate them.

The 4th Industrial Revolution, with its symphony of emerging technologies, has introduced an unprecedented era of uncertainty. To navigate this complex tapestry, we must strike a delicate balance between harnessing the transformative power of AI and preserving the essence of human experience. By cultivating a culture that values both technological innovation and emotional intelligence, we can create a tomorrow where humans and AI converge in a beautiful, symbiotic dance.

The well-being of our planet, intricately linked with the future of human-AI relations, must remain paramount in our considerations. As we envision a tomorrow where AI enhances human life without compromising the Earth's viability, we are reminded of the profound impact of our choices. By acknowledging the interplay between technological progress, ecological sustainability, and human flourishing, we can strive towards a future that is at once innovative, equitable, and environmentally conscious.

The future we create will be a testament to our capacity to reimagine, adapt, and innovate in the face of rapid technological evolution. By embracing the imperatives of human-AI symbiosis – ethical responsibility, balanced technological integration, and a deep reverence for the human experience – we can craft a tomorrow that is truly greater than the sum of its parts.

Trialogues: The Evolutionary Mind and the Machine (Sheldrake-McKenna-Abraham, UC Santa Cruz, 1998)

Maggie Jackson, Dr. Angel Acosta, Bob Pearson: Fourth Industrial Revolution - Adapting to the World Around Us (Heard in the Corridor Podcast, December 2024)

Wednesday, December 4, 2024