How do you work in humane technology?

Building a career in humane technology means intentionally working to guide powerful digital systems toward better outcomes for humanity, moving away from designs optimized solely for engagement or extraction. This field is fundamentally about prioritizing human well-being, ethical considerations, and social responsibility in the creation and use of digital tools. It requires technologists, designers, researchers, and policy experts who are concerned with the unintended consequences of the current incentive structures that reward speed and attention capture.

# Core Tenets

To work effectively in this space, one must internalize a set of guiding principles that define what humane technology is and is not. These core tenets serve as the foundation for design, product development, and organizational culture.

Six key tenets help map this philosophy:

1. Respect Human Nature: Technology should work with evolved human vulnerabilities and biases, not exploit them for profit or addiction.
2. Minimize Harmful Consequences: Product teams must actively address and reduce negative externalities caused by economic forces driving the product design.
3. Center on Values: Product development should be informed by metrics but ultimately guided by core human values, rather than pure growth targets.
4. Create Shared Understanding: Technology should build the necessary trust and clarity for complex societal problems to be solved collaboratively.
5. Support Fairness & Justice: Solutions must enable a more equitable world and practically integrate the perspectives of those who experience technological harm.
6. Help People Thrive: Products should assist users in acting in alignment with their deeper, long-term intentions, moving away from optimizing for immediate engagement loops.

This contrasts sharply with the older Silicon Valley ethos of "move fast and break things," which often resulted in unchecked harmful externalities. A humane technologist instead seeks to ensure that technology, including rapidly advancing fields like Artificial Intelligence, serves the public good and enhances lives.

# Work Domains

The work required to build a humane technological future spans several critical areas. While CHT focuses on systemic change, the roles needed in the broader ecosystem reflect this multi-dimensional approach.

# AI Governance

As AI becomes increasingly powerful, specific interventions are necessary to align its development with public values. This requires technical and policy expertise focused on:

• Liability and Duties of Care: Establishing clear legal accountability for AI developers. This involves institutionalizing a duty of care so that companies are obligated to anticipate risks and design safely from the outset, rather than facing consequences after harm occurs.
• Personal Protections: Upgrading legal and social structures to guarantee that human agency and dignity are preserved, especially as AI systems grow more persuasive.
• Whistleblower Protections: Balancing the information asymmetry inherent in AI development to ensure sufficient democratic oversight and public safety mechanisms are in place.
• Boundary Setting: Reinforcing the essential conceptual line between human beings and machines, resisting the urge to humanize AI in ways that might undermine societal norms or legal understandings of responsibility.

# Social Media and Attention

Another major domain involves grappling with the existing attention economy. This often means working within large established platforms on teams dedicated to integrity, trust, and safety, or pushing for policy reforms that alter the fundamental incentive structure driving engagement-at-all-costs design.

# Systemic Change

For those focused on macro-level shifts, work often centers on policy, communications, and research to clarify the ecosystem for decision-makers and the public. This involves connecting the dots between psychology, technology design, and societal impact to advocate for viable, safer alternatives to the status quo.

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# Entering the Field

The path into humane technology is not monolithic; the ecosystem is vast, offering entry points for nearly any existing professional skill set. It helps to visualize career opportunities in a tiered structure, depending on how central "humane technology" is to the job description.

# Three Career Tiers

1. Core Job: At the highest tier, humane technology is the primary function of your role. These positions might be found in specialized teams within well-established companies (e.g., Responsible Innovation divisions) or within dedicated non-profits and civic tech organizations.
2. Add-on Skill Set: This is where many professionals enter. Humane technology principles become a necessary overlay to a traditional role, such as Product Engineering, UX Design, or Social Science Research. In this tier, you might work for a values-centered startup aiming to build a humane product from the ground up, needing someone who deeply understands the humane vision to bring it to market.
3. Promotional Skill: Even if your job title doesn't mention ethics or well-being, these skills can be a significant differentiator. If you successfully rally coworkers to address an underestimated risk or propose an innovative, values-aligned solution in your current role—whether in FinTech, AdTech, or traditional consumer tech—these skills can lead to new leadership opportunities focused on risk mitigation and innovation.

It is important to note that while the movement is growing, the ideal, purpose-built "humane tech company" archetype is still aspirational for many; often, the most immediate impact comes from applying these principles within existing, powerful structures.

# The Human Element

Working in this domain demands more than just technical proficiency; it requires a significant internal development shift. As one pioneer in the space noted, we lack education pathways that go deep enough to empower technologists to "create technology worthy of the human spirit". The old culture often rewards traits like "grind culture" and toxic individualism, which stand in opposition to the required slowing down and deep reflection.

A crucial element for success, regardless of your specific role, is cultivating self-awareness alongside technical expertise. One way to approach this is by taking the time to articulate your own long-term learning journey, identifying the inner work necessary to complement your external technical skills. For example, if you are a senior product manager, you might pair technical training in bias auditing (external learning) with dedicated practice in non-reactive conflict resolution (inner work). This dual focus—understanding the systemic problems and cultivating the internal wisdom to navigate them—is essential for sustained impact.

# Mapping Your Entry Point

Finding where you fit requires careful filtering of the landscape based on your priorities. Before applying, consider what kind of change agent you want to be: the policy advocate, the design ethicist, the research scientist, or the internal reformer?

# Skill Building and Education

To demonstrate commitment and gain foundational knowledge, prospective humane technologists are strongly encouraged to invest in learning the core concepts. The Center for Humane Technology offers a free, online course called "Foundations of Humane Technology," which provides an introduction to the issue space and can help certify expertise.

For those focused on the youth aspect, educational toolkits exist to help people understand how persuasive technology works and how to push back, offering Issue Guides and Action Guides that match well with educator goals in critical thinking and writing.

# The Job Search Strategy

Since the ecosystem is broad, your search needs defined parameters. You should use personal filters alongside industry ones.

When searching job boards—such as those dedicated to responsible tech like All Tech is Human (though access may vary)—you should look for roles that explicitly mention integrity, policy, or trust and safety.

If you are currently employed in an industry facing significant ethical risk, such as AdTech or consumer tech, an actionable step is to translate your current job description into a humane technology lens. For instance, a "Conversion Rate Optimization Specialist" could reframe their goal as minimizing addictive design patterns while maximizing intentional user action, thus applying humane technology tenets to existing performance metrics. This allows you to build an internal case study for change within your current structure, which is the essence of Tier 3 impact.

The field is growing, and many organizations are actively seeking expertise across these varied roles, from technical liaisons supporting key leaders to communications directors clarifying complex issues for the public. It is truly a job hunter's market for those who can hone their story and speak authentically about their commitment to shifting incentives toward a more life-honoring digital world.