A Manifesto for Human-First AI

AI should give human attention back to humans.

We are learning how to build artificial intelligence that serves human life rather than consuming human attention.

Machines should carry the burden of interacting with machines. Humans should remain free to interact with humans and the physical world.

What we value

Human attention over digital engagement

Technology should return attention to people, places, craftsmanship, and the physical world.

Human relationships over digital representations of relationships

Contacts, messages, profiles, CRMs, and social graphs are maps. The relationship is the territory.

Human agency over technological dependency

People should be able to participate in ordinary life without being unnecessarily forced through apps, accounts, devices, or automated systems.

Human judgment over model output

Models can inform decisions, organize information, and reduce cognitive burden, but the model is not the world it represents.

Machines interacting with machines over humans servicing machines

Machines should handle forms, synchronization, transcription, copying, authentication, and the movement of information between systems whenever reasonably possible.

Technology that disappears over technology that demands attention

The best interface may eventually be the one a person barely has to interact with.

Two tests

The Human Connection Test

Did this technology increase or decrease the amount of meaningful human interaction?

The No-Phone Test

Can a person complete this real-world interaction without requiring a phone, tablet, app, account, or unnecessary surrender of personal information?

Our metric Minutes of human attention returned to the real world.

Our purpose

We build AI so humans can spend less time operating computers and more time being human.