Center for Humane Technology

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Hello there,

My name is Sasha Fegan, and I’m the Content Director at CHT. I edit this newsletter and serve as Executive Producer on our podcast. It’s really nice to meet you!

Like you, I feel that the pace of technological change over the last decade has been overwhelming at times. Society is still grappling with social media's mental health impacts and political disruption. And now, super-powerful AI has been added to the mix! It’s a lot to get your head around.

As a mum of two boys, this is all super real for me. I’m constantly trying — and often failing — to get the balance right around screen use at home. Anyone who thinks it’s easy clearly hasn’t had kids over 10! Right now, I’m mostly worried about how AI will impact their education, and how they will carve out meaningful and financially secure lives in this rapidly changing world.

I’m telling you all this because these are (some of) my personal biases. In a world full of bots and AI slop, this is a newsletter written by humans, for humans.

In each edition, we’ll explain some of the big technological changes happening around the world in a language that is (hopefully!) easy to read.

You can read and share interviews from our podcast, and watch all the latest podcast videos right here on CHT’s Substack.

We’ll also bring you more technically-focused AI insights, along with thoughts on AI and public policy.

But the most important thing about this newsletter is that it’s for you.

If our explanations are too technical, please tell me — I’ll do my best to improve them. I can't reply to every email, but I will read them all!

Now, on to some reading/listening/watching for you…

Image by Allison Saeng. Licensed under the Unsplash+ License

Behind the DeepSeek Hype, AI is Learning to Reason

You’ve probably seen the media frenzy around Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s new AI model — which was built at a fraction of the cost of American models. News of DeepSeek impacted global markets and amped up talks of US-China competition in AI. But so much of the coverage missed the most important point — machine reasoning has arrived, and it’s reshaping the world of artificial intelligence.

In this new podcast episode, CHT co-founders Aza Raskin and Randy Fernando chat about what happens when AI goes beyond simple pattern matching and starts engaging in real, thoughtful reasoning.

How Does Design Impact Our Experience of Technology?

The tech we use today doesn’t have to be harmful or addictive. It can absolutely be designed to be better for our brains, and our societies.

CHT’s Lead Policy Researcher Pete Furlong explains how we can get there.

Warm regards,

Sasha Fegan

content@humanetech.com