Attuning AI systems to human developmental needs.
Emerging evidence of AI-induced social, emotional, and cognitive stunting indicates that AI is rapidly reshaping how humans learn, think, and connect—and not necessarily for the better. That's why we are launching the field of human-AI developmental sciences: to guide the translation of developmental science into safe, secure, and scalable AI-enabled systems.
Residency
We bring tech developers, developmental scientists, and practitioners under one roof to align AI systems with human outcomes.
Our current residents come from backgrounds in computer science, psychology, economics, policy, law, and finance.
Fieldbuilding
We create fieldbuilding resources to guide the deployment of AI systems that empower human formation and transformation.
We regularly partner with aligned stakeholders on translational projects, including The Tech Interactive, The Stanford Accelerator for Learning, Cosmos Institute, Center for Innovation in Education, etc.
- Position: AI Development Should Prioritize Cognitive Security →
Published at the ICLR 2026 Workshop on Agents in the Wild. - What's Worth Learning? — Aspen Ideas Festival →
On what a good education, and a good life, looks like in the age of AI.
Community
We engage frontier AI labs, local communities, and policymakers to advance solutions concerning the developmental impacts of AI technologies.
- Cognitive Security Industry Summit
May 2026 · Frontier Tower, San Francisco. 200+ attendees from industry and academia; featured in Human Tech Week. - Cognitive Technologies Policy Hour
July 2026 · Station DC, Washington D.C. 100+ attendees from policy, civil society, and nonprofits. - Cognitive Economies Workshop
July 2026 · Pace Capital, New York City. Forecasting cognitive outcomes in agentic economies.
Pipeline
We support early-career talent in translating developmental science into code through intensive programming.
Our salons aim to set the intellectual foundations for a research-driven movement on how AI can support positive developmental outcomes at scale.
Our living groups investigate human experiences emerging from novel technologies.
Our regular hackathons and demo dinners provide builders a venue to partner with and receive feedback from expert developmental scientists and practitioners.
In Summer 2026, we're piloting a living group for preemptive social science. The social sciences have traditionally studied individuals, interactions, and institutions in retrospect, identifying relevant phenomena through the careful study of artifacts and controlled experimentation. Our living group instead applies the methods of backcasting, retrodiction, speculative design, and science fiction science to study human behavior and cultures as they form and transform, especially in the emerging context of agentic economies. What novel techniques for measuring change could lead to new theories about the dynamics of human behavior and human interaction as soon as they can be felt, grasped, named? Drawing from the practices of communities such as Quantified Self and The Explorers Club, the Human Formation and Transformation Living Group creates, documents, and researches emerging human experiences, with the aim of capturing the dark matter of what it means to be alive.