{"schema":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/instrument/v1/concerns","version":"1.1.0","as_of":"2026-10-20","concerns":[{"id":"outsourced-judgment","title":"Everyday judgment leaving the person","lede":"We mean the quiet, everyday habit of asking a model what is true, what to buy, what to say to a partner, or what a symptom means.","why":"Once people outsource judgment by default, their sense of authorship and agency starts to thin out, long before any crisis makes the headlines.","needs":"Treat model output as a draft to check. Get a second look on medical, money, and relationship decisions. Students still need to be able to write without a model in the loop. When a child is in distress, the first response should come from a trusted adult, and from a crisis line (988 in the U.S.) if it's a crisis.","doing":"We study this under Harm and Thinking. Academy Steps 1 and 2 are being designed so people can get comfortable with AI and still own their decisions. Public notes: quiet outsourcing, and attention as the first capacity under Area 01.","watching":["Medical and money advice treated as settled without a second look","Students who cannot draft without a model in the loop","Parents who use chat as the first response to a child's distress"],"relatedDivision":"02","updated":"2026-10-06","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/concerns/outsourced-judgment","division_url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/research/02","observations":[{"slug":"quiet-outsourcing-of-judgment","title":"The quiet outsourcing of judgment","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/quiet-outsourcing-of-judgment","published":"2026-10-07"},{"slug":"attention-is-the-first-capacity","title":"Attention is the first capacity","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/attention-is-the-first-capacity","published":"2026-10-18"}]},{"id":"child-to-college-dose","title":"Screen-native kids meeting AI without a ladder","lede":"Many tweens and teens already spend much of the day on screens. AI arrives in that environment as homework help, companions, and image tools, often before kids have any AI literacy.","why":"Without norms for authorship, open access lets AI become part of who a kid is before they learn to use it as a tool.","needs":"Kids need literacy before open access. Parent rules should cover AI use as well as screen time. Schools need to deal honestly with how cheating actually happens. And kids need a ladder that fits each age, which one “kids and AI” pamphlet can't provide.","doing":"By-age research is one of our six full research areas. Rocket Factory and Moonshot Camp will be built from this research. Our summer 2026 observation on tweens and teens is the first public note.","watching":["Published evidence of homework helpers drifting into companions for under-16s","School policy vs lived cheating norms","Parent rules that stop at screen time and ignore AI use"],"relatedDivision":"05","updated":"2026-10-07","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/concerns/child-to-college-dose","division_url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/research/05","observations":[{"slug":"tween-teen-baseline-2026","title":"Tweens, teens, and AI: a summer 2026 read","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/tween-teen-baseline-2026","published":"2026-10-06"}]},{"id":"livelihood-identity","title":"Work that no longer buys dignity","lede":"When cognitive hours stop purchasing status or security, households feel it before GDP narratives catch up.","why":"In many knowledge-work households, identity stress may show up before financial stress, while the default story is one of false calm.","needs":"Output volume shouldn't be treated as proof that work and identity are fine. When teams thin out, the human job needs to be redesigned, and households deserve the truth before GDP stories catch up.","doing":"Life-change research watches identity stress over time. Happy Camp will be the adult track. The observation on cognitive hours and dignity is the public note.","watching":["Career anxiety in college and early-career bands","Managers using AI to thin teams without a human redesign","Families treating AI productivity as proof that everything is fine"],"relatedDivision":"04","updated":"2026-10-03","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/concerns/livelihood-identity","division_url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/research/04","observations":[{"slug":"when-cognitive-hours-stop-buying-dignity","title":"When cognitive hours stop buying dignity","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/when-cognitive-hours-stop-buying-dignity","published":"2026-10-05"}]},{"id":"companion-dependence","title":"Parasocial AI as primary confidant","lede":"Loneliness plus always-on chat creates a soft substitute for human care: affirmation-seeking sessions that stretch for hours.","why":"The pattern is social and emotional, so we approach it with understanding. Acute cases still belong with licensed clinicians.","needs":"Notice companion drift before the model is the only relationship that answers. Late-night affirmation loops are a signal. If someone is in crisis, reach a local crisis line (988 in the U.S.) or emergency number. Platform safety disclosures often trail what users report.","doing":"Harm research tracks published evidence on session length, rejection of human help, and platform disclosures. Happy Camp will teach adults to see the pattern. We hold a firm line here: this Institute does not provide treatment.","watching":["Session length and late-night companion use","Rejection of human help after model affirmation loops","Platform disclosures that lag lived harm"],"relatedDivision":"02","updated":"2026-10-05","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/concerns/companion-dependence","division_url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/research/02","observations":[{"slug":"companion-hours-and-lonely-nights","title":"Companion hours and lonely nights","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/companion-hours-and-lonely-nights","published":"2026-10-04"}]},{"id":"home-agents","title":"Agents entering the household without rules","lede":"Agentic tools are moving from demos into family systems like mail, calendars, purchases, and messages, often with no gates.","why":"Unprepared homes get false calm from green lights that hide send permissions. Prepared homes need clear rules about what can act, what needs a human, and what never sends automatically.","needs":"Write the rules before the dashboard goes green. Decide what may act, what needs a human, and what never auto-sends. Separate roles on shared family accounts, and don't read a permission light as a sign of safety.","doing":"Home agents is its own research area. Academy Step 2 will teach household rules. The observation on agents in the house and the view on prepared operators are where we say it in public.","watching":["Unsanctioned message send from consumer agents","Shared family accounts with no role separation","Open-weight tools that skip vendor safety rails"],"relatedDivision":"06","updated":"2026-10-08","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/concerns/home-agents","division_url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/research/06","observations":[{"slug":"agents-in-the-house","title":"Agents in the house","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/agents-in-the-house","published":"2026-10-05"}]},{"id":"fear-market","title":"Fear marketing crowding out understanding","lede":"Public AI talk swings between utopia and doom. Neither helps a parent, a student, or a worker make a next decision.","why":"We put our effort into measurement and teaching because those are what help people understand what is actually happening.","needs":"We need public language that helps a parent, a student, or a worker decide what to do next, backed by real measurement and curriculum.","doing":"We publish views, concerns, and dated observations — including Measurement, not panic under Evidence. Our starting position is to help people understand, and we don't grow the Institute by selling panic.","watching":["Headline-driven policy that ignores how use differs by age","Product marketing that sells companionship as care","Think-tank panic that never ships a curriculum"],"relatedDivision":"03","updated":"2026-10-02","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/concerns/fear-market","division_url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/research/03","observations":[{"slug":"measurement-not-panic","title":"Measurement, not panic","url":"https://tgoodfoundation.com/library/measurement-not-panic","published":"2026-10-18"}]}]}