Augmented Intelligence for Actual Humans
While Silicon Valley races to replace humans,
we’re on a mission to elevate them.
Your brain's not broken.
Your tools are.
We build technology that adapts to you,
instead of the other way around.
The Problem
We're witnessing the fastest cognitive acceleration in human history. In 18 months, AI has evolved from writing simple emails to replacing entire job categories—but the tools we're given to adapt were designed for a world moving at human speed.
The Acceleration Crisis:
- Technology increasingly optimises for engagement and data extraction, not human flourishing
- We're now just 6-12 months from AI systems that outperform humans in most cognitive tasks
- Neurodivergent minds - roughly 20% of the global population - are canaries in the coal mine for cognitive overwhelm
The Critical Window: Why Human-Centred AI Must Win Now
"We're not just building better tools. We're defending the future of human agency in an AI-first world."
The current moment represents a unique inflection point in technological history. Unlike previous revolutions that unfolded over decades, AI capabilities are advancing exponentially while the window for shaping their development rapidly narrows. The choices we make in the next 24 months will determine whether AI augments human potential or replaces it entirely.
The Exponential Reality
In November 2022, ChatGPT could barely write a coherent essay. By January 2025, AI systems demonstrate reasoning capabilities that match or exceed human performance in mathematics, coding, and complex problem-solving. This represents a 100x improvement in capability in just 24 months.
Conservative projections suggest we're 24-36 months from Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—systems that outperform humans in virtually all cognitive tasks. Once this threshold is crossed, the window for shaping AI development closes permanently.
The Human Lag
While AI capabilities double every 6 months, human institutions adapt on 5-10 year cycles. Educational systems still teach skills that AI already surpasses. Workplace policies lag years behind technological realities. Most critically, the cognitive tools we use daily were designed for a pre-AI world.
This creates a dangerous gap: humans are being asked to collaborate with superhuman AI using tools designed for human-speed thinking.
Neurodivergent Minds: Canaries in the Cognitive Coal Mine
The 6.8% of the population with neurodivergent cognitive patterns aren't just struggling with current AI tools—they're revealing the fundamental flaws in how we're approaching human-AI collaboration.
The Surveillance Capitalism Endgame
Big Tech's AI strategy isn't just about building better assistants—it's about capturing the final frontier of human cognition. Every thought you share with ChatGPT, every prompt you give Claude, every conversation with AI becomes training data for systems designed to predict and influence human behaviour at unprecedented scale.
The Data Reality:
- 84% of AI tools have experienced data breaches, yet users continue sharing intimate thoughts and creative processes
- 8.5% of business prompts accidentally expose sensitive company information to systems that explicitly use data for training
- 68% of employees bypass corporate AI policies by using personal accounts, creating massive security blind spots
- 100% of "free" AI services monetise user data—when you're not paying for the product, you ARE the product
The stakes couldn't be higher: we're deciding whether AI will amplify human potential or harvest it for corporate profit.
The Alternative Path: Augmented Intelligence for Actual Humans
Heumans represents a fundamentally different approach to AI development—one that starts with human dignity rather than data extraction, cognitive diversity rather than algorithmic conformity, and community ownership rather than corporate control.
Our Approach:
- Privacy by Architecture: 100% local processing means your thoughts never leave your device—not because we promise to protect them, but because we literally cannot access them
- Neurodiversity as Design Principle: Built by neurodivergent minds for neurodivergent needs, creating tools that work better for everyone
- Research-Backed Development: 50+ pages of ADHD memory research informing every design decision, not growth hacking for engagement
- Community-Driven Innovation: Users own their data, their insights, and their contributions to the platform's development
The Narrowing Window
We estimate 18-24 months remain before the AI landscape crystallises around Big Tech solutions. Once network effects and data advantages solidify, alternative approaches become economically unviable.
This isn't just about building better productivity software. It's about proving that human-centred AI can deliver superior outcomes while preserving cognitive autonomy, personal privacy, and neurodivergent dignity.
What Success Looks Like:
- Demonstrable proof that privacy-first AI delivers superior cognitive augmentation
- Measurable economic returns from neurodivergent-inclusive design principles
- Viable alternative to surveillance capitalism in the AI economy
- Foundation for the next generation of human-AI collaboration tools
Personal Stakes: Why I'm Building This
My late-life ADHD diagnosis at 40 coincided with ChatGPT's launch. I experienced firsthand how AI could transform neurodivergent cognitive patterns from liabilities into advantages—but only when the AI truly understood how my brain worked.
After nearly losing everything when a previous co-founder exploited technical vulnerabilities to steal my company, I understand the stakes of building technology that genuinely serves users rather than exploiting them.
Through my work with Conductor Software on psychological safety measurement, I've seen how small changes in system design can produce massive improvements in human outcomes. The same principles that create psychological safety in teams can create cognitive safety in AI interactions.
We have one shot to get this right. The next 24 months will determine whether AI amplifies human potential or replaces it, whether neurodivergent minds are empowered or exploited, whether privacy becomes a luxury good or a fundamental right. Heumans exists to ensure we choose correctly.
The Heuman Alternative
Almost every major tech platform follows the same playbook: capture user attention, extract valuable data, then optimise for engagement over understanding.
Big Tech
Data as Product: “Free” services that monetise your thoughts and relationships
Engagement Optimisation: Designed to capture and hold attention
One-Size-Fits-All: Mass market solutions for neurotypical patterns
Surveillance First: Privacy as afterthought, if at all
Heumans
Privacy by Design: Your thoughts never leave your device
Education Over Engagement: Learn about the transformative power of AI, with zero ads or notifications
Neurodivergent-Led: AI that adapts to how you think
Dignity First: Cognitive augmentation, not replacement
Meet Penny
Finally, an AI that understands that just because it can do something, doesn’t mean it should. Consider Penny your personal guide to the future of Human-AI interaction.
100% Local Processing
Your thoughts stay yours, always
Zero cloud dependency. No data transmission. No corporate surveillance. We literally cannot access your information—by design, not just by vague promises and lots of fine print.
Multi Dimensional Memory
Beyond simple note-taking
Captures temporal, emotional, relational, and procedural context—how your brain naturally processes information. Not just what you said, but when, why, and how it connects.
Adaptive Intelligence
AI that recognises cognitive states
Detects attention patterns, energy patterns and even post-hyperfocus crashes. Provides support that actually helps instead of overwhelming.
Cognitive Pattern Recognition
Learn how your brain processes information
Discover your natural thinking patterns, attention cycles, and memory preferences. Knowledge that helps you work with AI tools more effectively.