# Ending the AI Arms Race: Why Safer Futures Are Still Possible & What You Can Do to Help with Tristan Harris

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-great-simplification-with-nate-hagens-4768503/ending-the-ai-arms-race-why-safer-futures-are-still-possible-what-you-can-do-to-help-with-tristan-harris
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-great-simplification-with-nate-hagens-4768503/ending-the-ai-arms-race-why-safer-futures-are-still-possible-what-you-can-do-to-help-with-tristan-harris.md
Podcast: [The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-great-simplification-with-nate-hagens-4768503)
Published: 2026-03-25T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thegreatsimplification.libsyn.com/ending-the-ai-arms-race-why-safer-futures-are-still-possible-what-you-can-do-to-help-with-tristan-harris
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thegreatsimplification/TGS214_TristanHarris.mp3?dest-id=3235040
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Duration seconds: 6640

## Resource

The conversation around artificial intelligence has been captured by two competing narratives – techno-abundance or civilizational collapse – both of which sidestep the question of who this technology is actually being built for. But if we consider that we are setting the initial conditions for everything that follows, we might realize that we are in a pivotal moment for AI development which demands a deeper cultural conversation about the type of future we actually want. What would it look like to design AI for the benefit of the 99%, and what are the necessary steps to make that possible? In this episode, Nate welcomes back Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, for a wide-ranging conversation on AI futures and safety. Tristan explains how his organization pivoted from social media to AI risks after insiders at AI labs warned him in early 2023 that a dangerous step-change in capabilities was coming – and with it, risks that are orders of magnitude larger. Tristan outlines the economic and psychological consequences already unfolding under AI's race-to-the-bottom engagement incentives, as well as the major threat categories we face: including massive wealth concentration, government surveillance, and the very real risk that humanity loses meaningful control of AI systems in critical domains. He also shares about his involvement in the new documentary, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, and ultimately highlights the highest-leverage areas in the movement toward safer AI development. If we start seeing AI risks clearly without surrendering to despair, could we regain the power to steer toward safer technological futures? What would it mean to design AI around human wellbeing rather than engagement, attention, and profit? And can we c…

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## Transcript

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