I've watched an entire generation get quietly trapped.
Not by accident. By design.
Over the past few years, I've watched startup after startup enter the AI field with the same playbook: find a human weakness, build an algorithm around it, and scale it. Curiosity. Loneliness. Boredom. The need for validation. These aren't bugs they're fixing — they're features they're exploiting.
The targets are younger and younger. AI-powered games engineered to be impossible to stop. Content platforms that learn exactly what keeps a teenager scrolling at 2am. Recommendation engines that don't just predict what you want — they reshape what you want, until you can't tell the difference anymore.
I'm not speculating. I'm watching it happen. And the cognitive impact is real: shorter attention spans, diminished critical thinking, rising anxiety, and a generation that is increasingly unable to disengage from systems specifically designed to prevent them from doing so.
Nobody is watching this closely enough. And nobody independent is building a framework to push back.
That's why I started the Human-AI Coexistence Research Project.
The Problem
AI is the most powerful behavioral technology ever built — and right now, a significant portion of it is being aimed at human vulnerability, not human flourishing. The people building these systems are optimizing for engagement metrics, not wellbeing outcomes. The people funding them are measuring retention, not cognitive health.
The gap between what AI could do for humanity and what it's currently being used to do is enormous — and widening.
The Solution
This independent research project is building a rigorous, human-centered framework for evaluating AI systems against real-world human outcomes: cognition, autonomy, attention, and dignity. Every finding is published openly — free to policymakers, educators, parents, advocates, and the public.
No corporate sponsor. No institutional agenda. Just the research, done honestly.
The Gap
Independent research like this doesn't have a natural home. University labs depend on corporate partnerships. Government funding favors established institutions. Individual researchers asking the uncomfortable questions get left out.
This project is fiscally sponsored by Humanitarian Social Innovations (HSI), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which provides the institutional structure. What it still needs is the funding to do the actual work: research tools, data access, open-access publication fees, and time.
You Are the Hero
Your contribution funds research that answers to the public — not to any AI company.
- $25 → Funds one day of structured research and literature review
- $50 → Covers open-access publication costs for one research article — free for anyone to read
- $100 → Supports a full week of technology assessment and behavioral impact analysis
- $250 → Sponsors a complete research module, from question to published finding
- $500 → Funds one month of independent research operations
- $1,000 → Becomes a Research Founding Supporter, credited in all published work
📬 What You Receive
Every contributor receives research updates as milestones are reached — what we found, what it means, what's next. Contributors at $250+ are acknowledged by name in published work. At $1,000, you're listed as a Research Founding Supporter across all project outputs.
This story doesn't end when the campaign closes. You'll be there for every chapter.
If you believe AI should strengthen human minds — not exploit them — contribute today. And please share this. Every share reaches someone who's already seen what I'm describing. That person is your next co-funder.
