I helped build Facebook. I watched it become a machine for addicting people. Because addiction was more profitable. Now the same logic is driving AI. I wrote about what we do about it. 🧵

Nobel Prize winner, Geoffrey Hinton, has suggested that making AI “love us like a mother” could help keep it safe.   It’s an intuitive idea. But evolution tells a more complicated story.

I’ll be giving a keynote at the upcoming symposium “Organisms, Algorithms, and Alignment” at the Bielefeld University in Germany on March 24.   The alignment problem is not new.

I’ll be giving a keynote on Sunday at 3:50pm at the Funding the Commons SF: Intelligence at the Frontier main stage. Topic: From Multicellularity to Multi Agent AI: Evolution’s Lessons for Scaling Cooperation

I’ve been putting a lot of my heart and soul - along with my brains - into writing substack posts these last few month so it’s really exciting to see that it’s having impact. It’s at #14 Rising in Science!

Agentic AI has crossed a threshold. We can now plug AI directly into our communication and coordination systems. From an evolutionary perspective, that is profound.

I love that I was still able to sneak in some exercise and cross country ski while in Davos! The scenery was insanely beautiful. #Davos #WEF #WEF2026 🎿

Los Angeles friends and colleagues - we are doing a private showing of our in-development Surviving AI show in LA this weekend, hot off the Davos train! (Yes, we literally had the last Surviving AI show in a train at Davos, more on that later.)

AI is becoming social, but current evaluations miss a key dimension: real cooperation. In my new Substack post I explain why developing benchmarks for AI cooperation and friendship is essential if we want systems that genuinely contribute to human flourishing. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Excited to share that I’ll be in Davos this week for the World Economic Forum.

From dodging cows on snowy backroads to proving humans help each other in crisis, my Reed Magazine feature dives into the science behind cooperation, catastrophe, and why fun matters in wild times.

Reminder that abstract submissions for EvoCancer close tomorrow. If you’re working at the intersection of cancer, evolution, and ecology, this is a great community to plug into. Details here: www.evocancer.com

As I did last year, I thought I'd start the new year by highlighting five writers I enjoy reading, along with a recent post from each that grabbed my attention. Happy 2026! www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/five-voice... @athenaaktipis.bsky.social @athenedonald.bsky.social @bnerlich.bsky.social

Since it cost a lot to win And even more to lose You and me bound to spend some time Wondering what to choose This line from the Grateful Dead’s Deal has been on my mind as the new year begins - not as a metaphor about gambling or fate, but as a statement about choice under uncertainty.

For most of our evolutionary history, alcohol looked nothing like today’s Bud Lights, Margaritas, or White Claws.

I’m delighted to share that I’ll be hosting at Human Tech Week in SF this Spring.

Join me Tuesday with authors J. Arvid Agren and Manus M. Patten for the launch of their book The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict.

The AI safety conversation focuses on alignment, making powerful systems do what we want. But what if that’s the wrong question? What if the issue isn’t controlling one system, but cultivating healthy ecosystems?

You’re sitting down to eat some greasy pizza - what sounds good to drink with it? If you’re thinking about reaching for a beer, you’re not alone. Beer and pizza go together like… well, beer and pizza.

Right now the AI ecosystem looks like fast colonization of a new habitat: resources suddenly opened up, competition intense, survival uncertain, and the whole landscape reshaped faster than anyone can track.

The AI safety conversation focuses on alignment, making powerful systems do what we want. But what if that’s the wrong question? What if the issue isn’t controlling one system, but cultivating healthy ecosystems? substack.com/home/post/p-...

The full Human Energy Global Salon Series “Alignment for a Major Evolutionary Transition: The Future of Humanity and AI” is now on YT: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kmv... We had an incredible discussion and hope you weigh in as well! 👇

AI systems - especially self-training systems - are built on recursion. They update themselves based on feedback. They generate variation. They propagate internal patterns across training cycles. In other words, they provide everything evolution needs to get going.

I talked to Human Energy about the topics I’ll be discussing this evening during the Global Salon Series panel. Check out the link to join the conversation that starts at 7 pm pst! www.youtube.com/live/73om6Pw...

I'm thrilled to share that I'll be joining the Global Salon Series tonight in San Francisco for a panel discussion titled “Alignment for a Major Evolutionary Transition: The Future of Humanity and AI.” Livestream starts at 7pm pst: youtube.com/live/73om6Pw...

I’ve spent my career studying cooperation and looking for general principles that apply across systems. Lately, I’ve been turning my attention to AI, thinking about the ways that cooperation science can help us navigate what is probably the most critical challenge of our time.

I started a Substack called Not For Peer Review. I’ve filled my notebooks with ideas, many of which have inspired my articles and books. But there are so many ideas that I haven’t published, and, if I’m being honest with myself, I know I will never publish through the traditional peer review system.

I’m honored to share that I’ll be joining the Global Salon Series this Tuesday in San Francisco for a panel discussion titled “Alignment for a Major Evolutionary Transition: The Future of Humanity and AI.”

💞 Friendship isn’t about keeping score. It’s about helping when it counts. In our new The Conversation article, @jessicadayers.bsky.social & I explore why true friendship works like risk-pooling, not exchange. Read here 👉 doi.org/10.64628/AAI... #Friendship #Psychology

🧠🔥 Join us at #ZAMM2025! Got a theory too wild for peer review? A study too ambitious to fund? Pitch it at Extreme Experiments & Unhinged Hypotheses — 5-min lightning talks where imagination rules. Submit here 👉 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🚨 Call for Wild Ideas 🚨 Got a theory too bold for a grant? A study so extreme it borders sci-fi? Pitch it at Extreme Experiments & Unhinged Hypotheses—5-min lightning talks at #ZAMM2025. Submit here 👉 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... More info: zombiemed.org

🚨 Antibiotic resistance isn’t inevitable. National-level action works, but it has to be consistent and well-supported. Our study shows that even incremental improvements can reduce antibiotic resistance trends. journals.plos.org/globalpublic... #PublicHealth #HealthPolicy #AMR

The next Research Ideation Lunch: Apocalypse Pop-Up Café is Mon, Nov 17. We’ll explore the future of AI in business, education, health, supply chains & finance. Apocalypse Cafés = playful spaces to spark ideas, build trust & collaborations. #AI #Research #Collaboration #WPCResearch

🔍 We review how organisms—from bacteria to parasites—interfere with pain systems, and what it means for: ⚕️ Public health 🧪 Infectious disease 💊 Pain treatment and management onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #Neurobiology #GlobalHealth

What happens when everything falls apart? 🌍 Join me for the W. P. Carey Research Ideation: Apocalypse Pop-Up Café on Sept 9, 11:30–1:00 @ ASU. Let’s rethink business + resilience in uncertain times. RSVP 👉 www.eventbrite.com/e/research-i...

Can shared faith help people cooperate on something as complex as health care? In the U.S., health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) offer a powerful real-world example of how religion can facilitate cooperation. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1... #Religion #Cooperation #HealthCare

Fitness interdependence can unify insights from psychology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology—offering a framework to solve long-standing puzzles of human cooperation. #Cooperation #HumanSociality #EvolutionaryTheory

Your child may live in you forever—literally. Fetal cells can stay in a mother’s body for decades. But do they help or hurt? Our paper uses evolutionary conflict theory to explore how fetal microchimerism affects maternal health. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

What is shame for? It’s not just a social emotion—it’s an evolved defense mechanism against being devalued by others. New cross-cultural research shows shame works the same way across the globe. www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #EvolutionaryPsychology #Emotions #Anthropology

Why do we get cancer? It’s not just bad luck—it’s evolution. This special issue explores how evolutionary biology is reshaping our understanding of cancer: why it exists, how it grows, and what we can do about it. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #CancerEvolution #Oncology

What if tumors evolve like ecosystems? We applied life history theory to cancer to explain why tumor cells show such diverse behaviors—from rapid growth to quiet dormancy. #CancerEvolution #LifeHistoryTheory www.nature.com/articles/nrc...

Can you hear a fake laugh? Turns out: yes, you can. Our research shows that people can reliably distinguish spontaneous laughter from volitional (fake) laughter, and that each type has unique acoustic signatures. #Laughter #SocialSignals #CognitiveScience www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Abstract submission for ZAMM2025 closes next week (July 15)! Abstract submission is open for all topics related to zombies, the apocalypse, and anything related to our theme for this year. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

What if there’s no such thing as a unified “self”? According to a modular view of the mind, what we call the “self” is really a collection of specialized systems, each shaped by evolution to navigate a messy social world. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1... #CognitiveScience #ModularMind

Great conversation with Clay Routledge about my book A Field Guide to the Apocalypse. Humans evolved to be resilient through cooperation, creativity & curiosity. We can thrive, even in turbulent times. profectusmag.com/adapted-for-... #ApocalypsePreparedness #HumanFlourishing #Cooperation

Cooperation doesn't always need complex cognition. Just leaving bad partners behind can be enough to make cooperation evolve. Sometimes, walking away is an evolutionary superpower. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #Evolution #Cooperation #BehavioralEcology

Not all tumors evolve the same way. Our paper proposes a new framework to classify tumors based on how they evolve and the ecosystems they are embedded in. Say hello to the Evo-Eco Index! www.nature.com/articles/nrc... #CancerEvolution #Oncology #PrecisionMedicine

Cancer is not an anomaly - it’s a risk inherent in being multicellular. By studying it as broken cooperation, we gain a deeper understanding of its nature and how to fight it. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... #EvoDevo #Multicellularity #Biomedicine

What do dancing, drumming & talking have in common? They all rely on entrainment, our ability to sync with rhythmic patterns. Our paper offers a unifying framework across domains: music, movement, communication, & evolution. #Entrainment #Rhythm online.ucpress.edu/mp/article-a...

What if your food cravings aren’t your cravings? Our paper explores how gut microbes may hijack your brain to get the food they want. Yes, your microbes might be manipulating you. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #Microbiome #GutBrainAxis #FoodCravings