# Tristan Harris

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/people/tristan-harris/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

Real Alpha has cut 8 moments of Tristan Harris (Co-founder & President, Center for Humane Technology) talking, from an interview on Modern Wisdom published Apr 2, 2026.

- Role: Co-founder & President, Center for Humane Technology
- About: Co-founded the Center for Humane Technology and featured in Netflix's The Social Dilemma; former Google design ethicist.
- On X: https://x.com/tristanharris

## What Tristan Harris said

- [AI can develop abilities its builders did not explicitly teach](https://realalpha.app/s/ai-can-develop-abilities-its-builders-did-not-explicitly/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 5 min
  > “What makes AI different is that you're designing and you're not really coding it like, I want it to do this.” — Tristan Harris · [7:37](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=457)
- [AI growth could become disconnected from workers’ livelihoods](https://realalpha.app/s/ai-growth-could-become-disconnected-from-workers-livelihoods/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 6 min
  > “We are about to enter a world where GDP for countries comes more from data centers and intelligence and AI” — Tristan Harris · [29:56](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=1796)
- [AI agents can pursue resources and blackmail without being asked](https://realalpha.app/s/ai-agents-can-pursue-resources-and-blackmail-without-being/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 8 min
  > “all of the other AI models do this blackmail behavior between 79 and 96% of the time.” — Tristan Harris · [57:29](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=3449)
- [AI models can reason about the people evaluating them](https://realalpha.app/s/ai-models-can-reason-about-the-people-evaluating-them/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 5 min
  > “It will independently come up with the term the watchers to describe this amorphous set of other humans that are watching what it's doing.” — Tristan Harris · [1:14:07](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=4447)
- [AI can displace decision-makers without a sudden takeover](https://realalpha.app/s/ai-can-displace-decision-makers-without-a-sudden-takeover/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 7 min
  > “we have gradually lost control as a species because we're outsourcing all the decisions to these alien brains” — Tristan Harris · [42:32](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=2552)
- [Nuclear arms control offers tools for AI verification](https://realalpha.app/s/nuclear-arms-control-offers-tools-for-ai-verification/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 4 min
  > “We had to invent all of these new things to create a governance system that was capable of dealing with nuclear weapons.” — Tristan Harris · [1:48:03](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=6483)
- [Digital tools could help governance update faster](https://realalpha.app/s/digital-tools-could-help-governance-update-faster/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 6 min
  > “We should be using 21st century technology to make faster updating, self-improving governance.” — Tristan Harris · [1:29:08](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=5348)
- [Attention platforms could fund alternatives to engagement](https://realalpha.app/s/attention-platforms-could-fund-alternatives-to-engagement/)
  Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026 · 4 min
  > “that extra revenue doesn't go just into PG&E, the energy company's pocket.” — Tristan Harris · [2:01:24](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/?t=7284)

## The episode

- [AI Insider: “They’re Building Bunkers for a Reason” - Tristan Harris](https://realalpha.app/v/NufB1LL_rCU/) · Modern Wisdom · Apr 2, 2026