The problem

Humanity is facing a crisis of trust. Digital technology is rapidly transforming the world, but early enthusiasm about its benefits has given way to uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. People no longer trust that their phones, apps, and social media platforms— or the companies that create them— are designed to maximize positive outcomes, either for themselves or society as a whole. Even the technologists who design the tools we use every day take steps to shield their own children from them, and seek personal refuge in retreats where they can “unplug” and escape from the digital world altogether. Neither those who use, nor those who design these technologies fully trust them.

The emergence of two opposing and extremist views on the future of technology. The challenges of the last decade— including data breaches, election meddling, biased algorithms, attention overload, and fake news— have shown the downside of embracing new, AI-powered technologies with naïve optimism and overconfidence. However, a pendulum swing to the opposite extreme of blind resistance and sweeping opposition could become just as dangerous, by delaying and even preventing the breakthroughs that are vital to a better future. We must find a middle ground if we are to flourish in the age of artificial intelligence.

Scientific research on the psychology of technology is disconnected. Scientific research presents the potential to chart a path between these two extremes. It can reveal the causes and consequences of using new technologies which will in turn facilitate trustworthy technologies and policies. The issue, however, is that this vital research is trapped inside universities and separated by disciplinary silos, isolating researchers from one another and from the technological frontier. Lacking access to cutting-edge ideas and relevant data, researchers are left to simply identify and document the consequences of new technologies only after they have been widely adopted. The insights that should be shaping the future are too often merely a record of the missteps of the past.