Project on Humane Use of Human AttentionAI-based technologies (including 'simple' apps) increasingly battle for human
attention (Davenport & Beck, 2001) as they become the motor for optimizing marketing targets and customer behavior. These technologies manipulate (Fogg & Hreha, 2010; Fogg & Iizawa, 2008) user attention as the entry point for influencing human thinking, attitude formation and behavior. Counter-movements have analyzed the
problematic and disruptive nature of this attention economy: loss of autonomy and increased addiction (Ertemel & Aydin, 2018), adverse effects on how our brain works (Carr, 2011) and even 'downgrading humanity' (
Center for Humane Technology, n.d.). However, these counter-movements struggle to formulate an alternative answer of 'humane technology'. Very interestingly, some philosophies mention the practice of striving for attention as a
solution to come to an anticipated human condition. Canonical Buddhist sources focus on concepts such as awareness and equanimity (e.g., Analayo, 2004; Goenka, 1999) and Western philosophy mentions concepts such as ataraxia (Epicurus) or authenticity (Sartre, 1983), to mention only a few.
The project aims to use this literature to critically reinterpret the current concepts of 'attention', 'autonomy' (Brown et al., 2015) and 'economy' (Brown, 2017) and will investigate whether these reinterpretations can support a normative foundation for humane technology. The project (1 year, 50%) is exploratory in nature. The main tasks are to submit 1 article to a relevant journal and to submit an application for follow-up funding. Connections can be made with ongoing projects on customer behavior (i.e. scalings.eu) or the ethics of socially disruptive technologies (
https://www.esdt.nl/).