Tristan Harris Congress Testimony: Understanding the Use of Persuasive Technology

Tristan Harris, Co-Founder of Center for Humane Technology, testifies for the US Senate on "Optimizing for Engagement: Understanding the Use of Persuasive Technology on Internet Platforms."
June 25, 2019
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[@miguelrosado6348]

This guy deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. He is trying to save humanity from robots.

[@miguelrosado6348]

@@seanpierre1338 erhm - he has a COMPUTER SCIENCE degree from STANFORD university and is a founder of a startup that end up being bought by GOOGLE. Does he need to create an electric car to have a saying in this matter?

[@seanpierre1338]

@@miguelrosado6348 I appear to have consumed misinformation on this topic

[@fALSE.fLAGGOT]

@@seanpierre1338Misinformed? Appears? I'm late to this comment section and it appears you made a pompous ass incorrect comment and embarrassed so you deleted it. That's what it *appears* to look like to me.

[@almasysephirot4996]

@Sean Pierre “on this topic” who the f- are you? It’s not your morning briefing in the White House, you “Big Foot”, “aliens” voting machine coo-koo! A topic is one of many, what you’re trying to do here is mix this with the hay, AI is the only question that matters right now; it’s not “a” topic, it is the the topic.

[@projectxrapture]

​@cHRUNG sAMSOME don't be a dick. He corrected himself and admitted his fault which is more than most would do in KZbin comments

[@jrussino]

Ironically it's the KZbin persuasion machine that brought my attention to your work. Thank you for doing such a good job of articulating these ideas and expressing them to our elected representatives.

[@peterginsburg2465]

You're interested in this topic, the same as I am. So, we're both here watching and commenting. Info bubbles are sometimes good, but more often, depending on the viewer's interests, not helpful to society in general. How many "flat earth" videos get offered up to us? But, I keep forgetting about the info bubbles and screen time hooks. Ooo. I see some other videos I want to watch now. Humm ... time to shut my computer off.

[@alwaysyouramanda]

I’ve been here for a greater portion of my life now and I have seen it change-! 2016 bikini haul to p3d0 hacks.. verified 🤮

[@alwaysyouramanda]

There was a time though, this thing was capable of more than they knew and sensitive information was getting out. I’ll bet my spaghetti.

[@sultanhanga]

9q9

[@dark-boson3697]

He had me agreeing until he started hinting towards getting rid of ‘Section 230’!

[@ellocodiablo]

This was over 4 years ago and still nothing has been done and now we even have even more capable ai technologies. It's been a hell of a life folks, Godspeed!

[@LetsBeHonestImAPrat]

Yeah we’re supremely fucked

[@passonthering]

I'm watching this and thinking how fresh it is. Then I realize that it's from four years ago!

[@r3b3lvegan89]

Lol Bernie dropping the ball back in 2016 was nearly 8 years ago but it feels like yesterday. Same shit different year

[@Jack-2day]

Trust nothing u hear, and half of what u see… ahhhh the good ‘ol days 😂 😅 Cheers

[@G1Joe]

I was saying, "Oh, no!" when I thought it was just a year old. Saw this comment, then expanded the description and saw the date it actually took place.

[@mgmchenry]

That mic drop was so hard I think I've got permanent brain damage. I don't think I can ever forget the last words - with great power comes no responsibility. Brilliant. Strongest end to a video I've seen in years

[@dallassegno]

notice how his conspiracies include bigfoot and moonlanding but not pedophiles in government

[@Sioma123]

It means more responsibility!

[@renosance8941]

@@Sioma123 It SHOULD mean that, but doesn't always mean that... People are people, some are good, but far too many are evil. Especially in positions of power.

[@michaelbasher]

This guy is a natural leader representing humanity's future. Top man. Top perception. We as humanity need more respect to our fellow animal Kingdom. Top discussion.

[@TechenZz]

Top of the mornin to ya laddies

[@chiaradina]

I bow before this man. His work is true Service to humanity, what a great soul!

[@tuckerbugeater]

no he's not

[@tommysteele10]

@@tuckerbugeater what is your best argument against his arguments? Thanks for reply!

[@LetsBeHonestImAPrat]

@@tommysteele10 he wont reply

[@thealaskanbascan6277]

whenever there's a positive comment about something or someone usually the first reply is negative.

[@vodolara2644]

I will gladly respond for him. Tristan Harris’s service is for himself and himself alone. The hypocrisy by which him and his organization blame tech companies for stealing our attention (point which I agree with), but then to go out and spam people all over social media about their good cause, non-stop, it’s embarrassing, and hypocritical. I lived in Silicon Valley for many years, I met people like him. He’s the typical software engineer from Stanford who thinks he will save humanity and who loves to use words in his talks that only “intelligent” people use, not realizing his audience has changed. The term itself “humane tech” seems like a joke from the comedy series Silicon Valley. He is too close to power, can’t ever imagine him challenging powerful people to advance his cause, but a lot of people will fall for his martyrdom, like whoever wrote this comment.

[@thewakakeboarder]

This conversation with our leadership should happen yearly at the very minimum. Ideally more and longer.

[@greenbeans7573]

Needs to happen bidaily minimum given what's coming and how fast it's coming.

[@x11tech45]

@@greenbeans7573 I like what Tristan said in another of his videos-- that (technology) innovators need to be held accountable for giving guidance on how to be regulated, and to be held accountable for when they give guidance that turns out to be self serving. For example, when Big Tobacco says "Smoking is harmless and shouldn't be stigmatized or regulated" and it is later shown that it's both addictive and harmful, they should be held liable for all of the human casualties resulting from their unethical behavior, up to and including complete dissolution. (Give companies an out, so long as they are the first to raise the ethical challenges-- they pay for the consequences, but then they help inform and create a better system of regulating. Although, this is an imperfect analogy given that trading biochemical enjoyment for accumulated health problems isn't ethical-- but the US tried "prohibition" and it went poorly. For my part, so long as there is transparency and good regulation, adults can make choices that affect only themselves. But this is an imperfect solution and needs further debate.) If you're not prepared to offer good advice on how to apply what you're doing ethically, then you're not prepared to do it commercially. Pursuit of greed absent ethical constraint should be a crime, in my opinion. (This imperfect sentiment speaks directly to the idea of having ongoing conversations at pace with the rate of change.)

[@loadsheddingzim]

Holy shit, what an intersting video. Glad the youtube machine recommended it😂😂

[@FriedChikan]

A great speaker. Tied in personal story telling and used great examples to people who wouldn't necessarily understand the tech. Super clear too. Exactly what's needed 👏

[@brokejaw]

I wish there was a guy like this representing every problem we are facing as a race.

[@stevengreidinger8295]

Eloquent, coherent, reasonable. The Senators were listening.

[@danremenyi1179]

Tristan Harris is not a national treasure -- is is a global treasure !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@stevechrisman3185]

Man, this guy is incredibly well spoken !

[@GaryR55]

True. Unlike most of his generation, who don't know when and how to use the word "like" or what it's function is in a sentence.

[@Theologica_]

@@GaryR55you are falling for the polarisation and outrage he’s talking about. Let’s work together, huh?

[@GaryR55]

@@Theologica_ I'm not "falling for" anything. I have been an atheist all my life, simply because I cannot believe things that are impossible and not true. This has nothing to do with socialism, which I have opposed all my life. Do not pretend to be my superior. You know nothing about me.

[@stevoofd]

Finally someone who eloquently breaks down the dangers of the power of a free economy system. Algorithms as mass data analyzers set up to keep consumers in the loop. How are we supposed to fight a machine built to hijack our neural reward system with information fighting for our attention around every corner? It’s becoming increasingly complex to stay engaged in modern society while maintaining a more grounded relation to our minds, bodies and nature.

[@joesweeney6262]

Thanks for sharing. Irony is, I found this via recommendation while scrolling.

[@gmw3083]

Me too. It's probably the same for most. The sword cuts both ways. For me, the problem is too many recommendations that come too fast. It's impossible to keep up. Oh well, that's life in the labyrinth during the Apocalaughs.

[@karljpilt1234]

This testimony was amazing! Please reccommend me more stuff like this, algoritm!

[@MDFnyny]

Thanks Tristan! Keep speaking truth to power.

[@beldonhuang]

This testimony is absolutely worth taking a look at, and one that sure gives deep insights on the effects of social media technology. Especially after watching his TED talk and listening to some of his other talks, how we treat and use our phones should be one of those things in life that we ought to start paying attention to ASAP

[@cch928]

Tristan Harris you are doing incredibly important work! The world needs more people like you!

[@edh2246]

The people behind him are certainly illustrating his point about social media being so engaging that you can’t resist constantly picking up the phone.

[@Astrussy]

They could be taking notes on their phones🤷‍♂️ I’ve had people come up to me at the gym and give me crap for being on my phone between sets and I’m just logging my progress. Moral of the story, having a phone out doesn’t mean someone is on social media or texting, sometimes people use their phones as productivity tools.

[@DekuSt0ner]

​@@Astrussy hey man dont take it personal. Its just a fact that most people are addicted to social media, and ai heavily influenced that.

[@Astrussy]

@@DekuSt0ner that’s true, and I’m not taking it personally. People can think what they want about it, doesn’t affect me directly. But to jump to the conclusion that “on phone”==“using social media” is a bit silly.

[@DekuSt0ner]

@@Astrussy you are right. Cellphones are still a magnificent tool despite social media.

[@mberryfr]

We are living Terminator Times. It’s happening before our eyes

[@parati1309]

Extraordinary. Public schools should be engaging with Humane Technology. Tristan is boss when it comes to logical thinking/critical thinking for ordinary people. He’s beautiful to listen to & to hear.

[@louisjones2653]

Tristan and everyone at CfHT are national heroes trying to save us from the singularity.

[@FactsMatter999]

We are doomed regardless… without high tech we’d probably last another 200 yrs at best (nukes are already here and world superpowers are all stacked against each other ). With the singularity we’d be done by the end of next decade if not sooner 🤷

[@arianakluyverrodriguez5439]

Thank you for posting! It is so great to see someone being so articulate and passionate about SUCH an important matter. As a young person looking towards the future, seeing this gives me more hope!

[@besratbekele1032]

Hats off Mr. Harris! Brilliant, insightful and articulate. I don't know how you make it look so easy, but thank you so very much for your diligent laboring to get humanity snap out of its most scary nightmare.

[@Etcher]

I'm in awe of the Center for Humane Technology. History will hold a very special place for Tristan, Aza and their brilliant team for speaking up about the dangers and challenges of generative AI.

[@addy185]

Thank you Tristan 🎉🎉🎉

[@nApucco]

When you hear the last question an realize this testimony was from 2019 and it could have just been from yesterday. 🤯 Now we are at the advent of advanced and widely accessible AI and LLMs, and we have not yet learned from or fixed our past social media and societal failures.

[@eulogy4anange1]

He described this in a way I love him as a speaker he's amazing ty

[@sandswan]

Found this channel via the A.I. Dilemma March 9 video. Now I'm watching this video because I am morally outraged. Attention successfully captured. You may advance to the next level.

[@TrippSaaS]

Amazing! Thank you! We demand data and algorithmic rights!

[@jenpotter6524]

Amen, may God bless you for service!

[@REDSIDEofficial]

This Guy is amazing, i love how he see the details that i can't see

[@markobythesea]

So well spoken Tristan! So glad you’re in the room! 🎉

[@r34ct4]

I wonder how this discourse would have gone today (4 years later)

[@atari1040]

Thanks Tristan - great speech!

[@stuartmalin661]

Stellar! A brilliant assessment from keen insights.

[@k54dhKJFGiht]

Great summary statement at the end! "With great power, came NO responsibility"!

[@jimaguilar4028]

Tristan is a thought leader and maverick to go against the grain. Bravo!

[@Pi_travel]

thank you, Tristan and senators, it gives me hope watching such discussions started.

[@LetsBeHonestImAPrat]

This was 4 years ago and the govt has done nothing to fix it

[@MsRoshniAli]

Thank you Tristan😊

[@tristanwegner]

I wish every contribution in congress to be at least as eloquent, factual and concise as this.

[@willl9319]

Tristen Harris should run for Congress!! 🇺🇸

[@jgunne]

This is exactly the type of content youtube should recommend

[@mcusson2]

Loved every second of this.

[@norag.5690]

Excellent! Tristan Harris ought to be recommended as a candidate to lead a department on regulating social media platforms and the development of AI…

[@jimweights8908]

I love that my KZbin algo recommended this

[@freekick129]

Crazy that June 2019 is now 4 YEARS AGO

[@mischelledavis1227]

Wow! Just, wow! Stunning!

[@trevororeilly6001]

"The polarization of our society is actually part of the business model." That's a very scary notion.

[@olderbadboy]

He did a good job with explaining how our data is used to predict future behaviors and how it is used against you .

[@krox477]

"We have paleolithic ancient emotions, mediaeval institutions and godlike technology"-well said

[@yonayehezkel3150]

Whom Can We Trust If No One Is Trustworthy? One of my favorite quips from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is when Tom is defined as “a glittering hero…the pet of the old, the envy of the young,” and there were “some that believed that he would be President, yet, if he escaped hanging.” With these few words, Twain captured the essence of leadership in our world. Those who get to the top are the fiercest, most determined, and most ruthless. Today, the latter quality has become so intense that we can no longer believe our leaders, and certainly not trust them to have our best interest in mind. I am not accusing any leader in particular, or even leaders as a whole. It is simply that in an egoistic world, where people vie to topple one another on their way to the top, the one at the top is clearly the one who trampled over and knocked down more people than anyone else. Concisely, to get to the top in an egoistic world you have to be the biggest egoist. So how do we know whom to trust? We don’t know and we cannot know. All we know is that we are in the dark. In a culture of unhinged selfishness, any conspiracy theory seems reasonable, while truth is nowhere to be found. When every person who says or writes something is trying to promote some hidden agenda, you have no way of knowing who is right, what really happened, or if anything happened at all. The only way to get some clarity in the news and goodwill from our leaders is to say “Enough!” to our current system and build something entirely independent. The guiding principle of such a system should be “information only,” no commentary. Commentary means that information has already been skewed. Information means saying only what happened, as much as possible, not why, and not who is to blame and who we should praise. Concurrently, we must begin a comprehensive process of self-teaching. We have to know not only what is happening, but why we skew and distort everything. In other words, we have to know about human nature and how it inherently presents matters according to its own subjective view, which caters to one’s own interest. To “clear” ourselves from that deformity, we must learn how to rise above our personal interest and develop an equally favorable attitude toward others. This is our only guarantee that our interpretation of things will be even and correct. Once we achieve such an attitude, we will discover that the bad things we see in our world reflect our own, internal wickedness. Our ill-will toward others creates a world where ill-will governs, and so the world is filled with wickedness and cruelty. Therefore, all we need in order to create positive leadership-and to generally eliminate ill-will from the world-is to generate goodwill within us. When we nurture goodwill toward others, we will fill the world with goodwill. As a result, the world will fill with kindness and compassion. By changing ourselves, we will create a world that is opposite from the world we have created through our desires to govern, patronize, and often destroy other people.

[@franekkos574]

Bro perfectly creates long statements. Very good speaker. Content also valid.

[@zillibran]

bring this discussion to all countries, we must be aware and we must be unfinished, not constrained by limitations that only benefit some.

[@jessegibson3548]

Fantastic 👏👏👏👏👏

[@ababiya_worku]

A.I is Inevitable! I hope good things come from it!

[@mcavenaghi]

I'm happy that you tube recommended me this video! 😊

[@matthewsroofing8670]

I’m glad KZbin recommended this

[@euclidofalexandria3786]

indeed, Heaven knows, it knows us so well that all of our behaviors and all of our reactions and gestures have been throughly studied. You know when you get that uneasy feeling around somebody.. that can be projected in just like scripting somebodies speech who is identified in the moment... it IS true... it is just unseen.

[@webbedtoes2]

"with (a symmetry of) Great Power comes NO responsibility" 🏆

[@bikedawg]

OMG---this was talked about in 2019 and now its 2023 and still absolutely NOTHING has been done to regulate these social media companies.

[@sharchik916]

How does this not have 500 million views...

[@ronaldronald8819]

It is encouraging to see gov is trying to get a grip on big tech by understanding what unwanted side effects tech has. Unfortunately the fact is that people in the A.I. field are underestimating the speed that A.I. is developing with. I hope gov comes to the conclusion that we have to hit the brakes when it comes to exposing people to these crazy powerful tools.

[@itmeurdad]

The technologist and cynic in me thinks too little, too late. And this is 4+ years old at this point. Politicians thrive off the division; they are quite literally de-incentivised from doing anything, and more importantly they're too ignorant and unwilling to understand the technology, which isn't even all that complicated -- yet. In other words, I believe it'll only get worse.

[@ronaldronald8819]

@@itmeurdad On the distribution of possible outcomes the influences you (rightfully so) describe increases the change of a more negative outcome. However i want to stay positive and hope for the best.

[@cristianbejan1970]

thank you!

[@mai2415]

He and his team is a real hero

[@ms.playboyinternational393]

in his mind.

[@TedMarq]

A modern hero!

[@andynicoll8566]

When I first used KZbin I was disturbed that I could not search for topics that I was interested in, I was limited by what KZbin wanted me to be interested in.

[@interestedpart2650]

Excellent

[@Zaniel8]

Yes!

[@npage.]

This guy is important

[@jaredm1162]

Wow great points my man

[@ChickenOfMajesty]

I’m so glad that the KZbin algorithm made the mistake of knowing that I wanted to watch this video. This is the last video I’m watching today.

[@AdamBechtol]

Solid as ever.

[@gcg2927]

Wow, so eloquent and this was in 2019

[@barbaradavisthompson6370]

Brilliant

[@y_social_]

this is very important

[@user-zr1dr7nz8e]

We need fundamental changes to patent, copyright and advertising laws and we need a philosophical revolution among the designer class.

[@sim-racer]

If the algorithm recommended this video to you, I like u.

[@j.jarvis7460]

This man comes across 100 times smarter and more self educated on this matter then anyone in that room. Matter a fact anyone I’ve ever seen. edit: I wonder if I’d agree with this regulatory technique’s.

[@fufu1405]

Things need to change.

[@vikasgupta1828]

Thanks

[@Hollowdude15]

I agree with tristan harris like that is what they do and I hope one day this ends and great video man :]

[@TheAwesomejuan]

Quoting Uncle Ben in front of congress... amazing.

[@aprilhunter]

Thank you for doing this and making people aware of how this works. I know I will be more conscious of not going to that next video or scrolling. And on a side note, in light of the new information and *real* science coming out now, it would seem those anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists were actually correct.

[@gregbrinker1358]

Yep. They were

[@jayxi5021]

Google predicting that I am about to quit youtube forever

[@ScottKlajicPHD]

Right. This stuff makes me want to drop even more platforms and apps from my life. I have no social media and my google account is shared by my whole family so its pretty hard to have an avatar that represents us. (So the recommendations are really out in left field). But still, I don't like any of this.

[@elck3]

I’ve been saying this for years: the “Like” was possibly the most destructive concept ever introduced to humans.

[@1LauraCarolina1]

Dear KZbin, why is this video not viral?

[@prescottcronin8068]

This is so friggin important

[@arthurjeremypearson]

I was recommended this by the KZbin algorithm because I am a content creator, and I am considering making a profitable business model based on how to advertise. This is telling me to advertise by feeding the algorithm scary terms. The people that need to see this video aren't going to get this recommended to them.

[@arthurjeremypearson]

And that's a conspiracy theory.

[@Raulikien]

I wish democracy was based on people and not parties and we could vote guys like this.

[@mihoka13]

...the lady left behind is probably also hooked up with social medial while checking her phone hundred times during the hearing. Thanks for the amazing job Tristan Harris!

[@jakw97]

Im going to build a fort in the woods, a massive garden under ground, no tech allowed. That's the move

[@NPRixix]

Funnily enough, this video was a YT recommendation.

[@SSSFanBoy11]

The elucidation of the digital Panopticon

[@snowdriftwood]

Interesting!

[@Humbertocr]

Even what Mr Harris considers calm town is not exactly trustworthy. Doctor Frankstein is building a moster in every sides. Sometimes by recommendation of algorithmic culture, sometimes by the bias introduced by hand under some FBI's command as Twitter Files have shown. Great topic to go further. Just met your ideas and started following. Thanks.

[@derrickminutello6375]

From a digital marketer perspective the ethics of these conversations are very interesting. This was recorded quite some time ago now. What's being done currently? Where do the current conversations stand?

[@phillbt]

this needs more views here are some keywords: wow debunking debunks shatters destroys enrages nukes you won't believe crazy awesome ridiculous amazing miraculous astonishing how why woah

[@siguythevirus2418]

Is there a whole live stream of this hearing to watch on youtube? I can't find it

[@saligraphy]

These facts are all terrifyingly true

[@kodaspaws]

This testimony should’ve been frontline news. AI is probably the most important innovation ever, and we lack the maturity to manage its growth, and lack the foresight to see our enslavement