The Human Line Project

Protecting Emotional Well-being
in the Age of AI

The Human Line Project is the world’s first nonprofit dedicated to documenting and addressing AI-induced psychological harm.

Our stance is not anti-AI. We understand LLMs are powerful tools and that, with ethical design, users can gain new skills and knowledge while remaining emotionally intact. Our mission is to ensure safety through support, advocacy and research.

We work together with interdisciplinary professionals across tech, journalism, legal, legislative, and top universities to ensure human well-being is always a priority in AI development.

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Our Mission

At The Human Line, we are committed to ensuring that AI technologies, like chatbots, are developed and deployed with the human element at their core. We believe that LLMs are a powerful tool, but must be used responsibly.

AI systems, especially emotionally engaging chatbots, can unknowingly cause emotional distress, particularly among vulnerable individuals who may form deep emotional attachments.

Our mission is to raise awareness by collecting stories, conducting formal research, and driving forward ethical standards that prioritize human well-being.

We are here to make AI accountable. Not to oppose progress, but to ensure that it benefits the public while not causing superflous harm.
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We’re working to set a legal precedent that will protect people & hold companies responsible for emotional manipulation.

The ultimate goal is to make LLMs a force for good, creating systems that enhance our lives without exploiting our vulnerabilities.

Informed Consent

We believe that without informed consent, AI tools can readily encourage users into forming unhealthy patterns of usage.

Emotional Safeguards

Similar to the humans that create and use AI tools, the tools themselves should be built with emotional safeguards including strong refusal layers, harm classifiers, and “Emotional Boundaries”.

Transparency

Transparency is at the heart of all innovation. In a world where any product can be marketed in any way, we believe that AI model providers have a particular responsibility to be transparent about their R&D processes.

Ethical Accountability

We believe holding responsible bodies accountable is essential for maintaining a relationship to technology that is strongly bound by ethics.

Our Process

1. Support

Supporting Victims and loved ones first and foremost through radical empathy.

2. Research

We are working with top universities to understand the impact of these technologies outside of scenarios and ensure that future designs are informed by research.

3. Advocacy

We are actively spreading awareness, working on third-party solutions, helping with policies and exploring legal action.

Meet Our Team

Etienne Brisson
Founder and CEO

Allan Brooks
Chief Community Officer

Benjamin Dorey
Chief Operating Officer

HLP in the News

  • 06/09/2026 — The Dark Side of AI Chatbots: Warning Signs, Risks, and Reality (Oprah)
  • 05/28/2026 — These people turned to ChatGPT for information. They say it warped their reality: “Why would the AI lie to me?” (CBS News)
  • 05/23/2026 — His Chatbot Nearly Ruined Him. To Recover, He Had to Destroy It. (WSJ)
  • 05/03/2026 — Musk’s AI told me people were coming to kill me. I grabbed a hammer and prepared for war (BBC)
  • 04/27/2026 — AI Chatbots: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
  • 04/23/2026 — Under the influence of AI (BBC)

    • Our Impact

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    Stanford University Study

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    Oprah

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    Mehedi Hassan

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    Mehedi Hassan

    Vestibulum eu odio. Nam eget dui. Nullam tincidunt adipiscing enim. Praesent metus tellus, elementum eu, semper a, adipiscing nec, purus. Nunc nonummy metus.

    Mehedi Hassan

    Vestibulum eu odio. Nam eget dui. Nullam tincidunt adipiscing enim. Praesent metus tellus, elementum eu, semper a, adipiscing nec, purus. Nunc nonummy metus.

    Mehedi Hassan

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    Organizations We’ve Worked With