Director: Peter H. Kahn, Jr.

The HINTS lab seeks to address – from an ethical stance – two world trends that are powerfully reshaping human existence:

1. The degradation if not destruction of large parts of the natural world, and
2. Unprecedented technological development, both in terms of its computational sophistication and pervasiveness.

Humans will adapt to such changes. How could we not: it is that or we will die as a species. But questions emerge:

• Will such adaptations portend any fundamental impoverishment in terms of human functioning and, indeed, human flourishing?
• Are frequent interactions with diverse nature important, or even necessary, for children to develop well -- physically and psychologically?
• What are the psychological effects of interacting with “Technological Nature” – technologies that mediate, augment, or simulate nature (e.g., robot pets, real-time digital windows of nature, and tele-operated gardening)?
• How can personified computational systems (e.g., humanoid robots, androids, and “smart homes”) be designed to enhance children’s social and moral development?
• How can technological systems be designed to enhance the world, and where should we back off from specific technological designs and implementation?

The HINTS lab focuses on these questions. We aim for rigor in our scientific research. Depth in our apprehension of the problems. Solutions that build on the biodiversity of human experience. And far-ranging compassionate visions of the future.