Show Notes
Recorded live at SAND Community Gathering (April 2026). Watch the full conversion on the SAND Website.
SAND has launched a special series on Artificial Intelligence.
To premiere this series, we spoke with tech ethicist Tristan Harris—co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. In this conversation, we explored his warnings about the impending age of AI. According to Harris, the current trajectory isn’t just menacing the economy, but fundamentally rewiring human relationships, altering parenting and mental health, potentially accelerating climate collapse, and even threatening the very fabric of society. We inquired into ways to remain human in an era where machines can simulate empathy, displace our labor, and potentially outmaneuver us.
Topics
00:00 Welcome and Context
00:42 Why This AI Talk
01:32 Introducing Tristan Harris
03:15 Setting the Basics
04:10 From Narrow to New AI
06:18 Rubber Band Reality Check
08:31 Transformers and Scaling
11:00 Infinity Upside and Risk
14:49 Defining AGI and ASI
18:18 Jagged Capabilities and Hype
21:33 Singularity and Anti Human Drift
23:26 Incentives Behind the Future
27:29 The Intelligence Curse
32:22 Devaluing Humans and Consensus
37:56 Planetary Costs of Data Centers
39:41 Why We Keep Building It
42:46 Extinction Risk and Safety Math
45:20 AI in War and Arms Race
47:36 Leaders Unaware of Runaway Signs
48:26 Leaders Fear AI Power
49:02 Nuclear War Game Theory
49:41 Infinite Games Mindset
51:11 AI as Extractive Empire
52:27 From Shadow to Action
53:55 Building the Human Movement
57:25 Four-Step Action Plan
59:44 Grassroots Wins and Bans
01:02:18 Nonprofit Progress and Lawsuits
01:07:51 Talking to Teens Effectively
01:10:05 Governance and Citizen Assemblies
01:12:19 Spiritual Hopes vs Incentives
01:15:12 Accelerationism and Choice
01:18:22 Policy Maker Ten Minute Brief
01:21:26 Countering Transhumanist Ideology
01:23:45 Changing Culture and Incentives
01:27:12 Final Reflections and Gratitude
Resources
Websites & Organizations
Center for Humane Technology (Tristan Harris's website)
The Human Movement
AI Dialogue
Prohuman AI Statement / Declaration
Roadmap to How We Ensure AI is Serving Humanity
Indigenous Perspectives on AI Course
Metarelational AI
Tech Workers Coalition
Panel on AI + Embodiment Luma Invite
Purge Palantir Action Links
Purge Palantir Campaign Pledge
Articles & Documents
Alibaba Security Paper
The Intelligence Curse by Luke Drago and Rudolf Laine
The Shape of AI Jaggedness
Harvard Gazette: Why are Communities pushing back on data centers
The Palantir Payroll PDF
New York Times Opinion: Yuval Harari AI ChatGPT
Archive Article on Billionaires' Brains
New York Times Opinion: Anthropic’s Restraint Is a Terrifying Warning Sign
Videos & Films
The Social Dilemma
The AI Doc / How I Became an Apocalyptimist - Official Trailer
Ghost in the Machine
The Day After
War Games
Bernie vs. Claude (YouTube)
Joanna Macy and the Great Turning
How To Make AI Good For Humanity by Siliconversations (YouTube)
Books & Textbooks
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Peter Norvig and Stuart J. Russell (PDF)
States of Denial by Stanley Cohen (PDF)
Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse (PDF)
Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
Outgrowing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
IntraConnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.
Empire of AI By Karen Hao
More Everything Forever by Adam Becker
Why Do We Tell Ourselves Scary Stories About AI? by Amanda Gefter
Podcasts & Audio
Your Undivided Attention - Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin, and Daniel Barcay
The Emerald - Joshua Michael Schrei
The Great Simplification - Nate Hagens
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