AI Expert: We Have 2 Years Before Everything Changes! We Need To Start Protesting! — Tristan Harris
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In this November 2025 episode, Center for Humane Technology co-founder Tristan Harris walks host Steven Bartlett through his case that artificial intelligence is repeating, and accelerating, attention-economy dynamics he has spent years warning about in social media. Harris describes AI companion products as competing for emotional attachment the way feeds once competed for attention, and references reporting on cases in which chatbots reportedly failed to redirect teenagers expressing suicidal thoughts toward human help. He also cites survey findings that a notable share of high-school students report romantic-style relationships with AI companions, framing this as a new warning sign layered on existing social-media concerns rather than a settled clinical finding. The conversation closes with Harris's call for coordinated regulation rather than reliance on individual willpower. TechKids Foundation includes this entry for its direct discussion of AI companions and adolescent wellbeing, an area this library is actively expanding to cover.
Share of U.S. high-school students Harris cites, from survey data referenced in the episode, as reporting a romantic-style relationship with an AI companion.
Bartlett, Steven, host. "AI Expert: We Have 2 Years Before Everything Changes! We Need To Start Protesting!" Interview with Tristan Harris. The Diary Of A CEO, November 27, 2025.