In the last thirty years, we haven’t gotten new gadgets and toys, we’ve been actually brought into a completely different reality.

First the internet. Then broadband. Then smartphones. Then social media. And now artificial intelligence. One wave after another, faster than the last. We’ve learned how to use them quickly, how to scroll, how to download content, how to find information, but we haven’t learned how to live with them properly. That part is missing.

This is the fundamental problem. Our adaptation is consumerist, not social. We know how to be users, but we don’t know how to protect ourselves or be more productive.

Industrial revolutions and technological changes in the past lasted for decades and centuries, and they really took time to be fully used. Laws, regulations, rules, norms, education, public health, all of this was regulated after the new machines were invented. Although it was slow, humanity eventually caught up with the technology. With digital technology, this is drastically different. The gap between the rapid technological revolution and social adaptation continues to grow. By the time schools start teaching something about social media literacy, the platforms have already changed three or four times.

Look how long it took for serious debates about smartphones in the classroom? It’s only in the last few years that some countries have started to regulate or limit smartphones due to problems with attention and mental health in young people. But children have had them for more than two decades. Regulation comes late. Education comes late. Protection comes late.

The economy and the market, of course, arrive very early.

We adapt when money is involved. New apps? Immediately. New phones? At 2 years old. New AI tools? Overnight. And ethical frameworks? Critical thinking and training? Psychological coping strategies? ... It’s still loading.

Always connected, but not present

Mobile phones have not only changed communication, they have also replaced presence. Conversations are now competing with notifications. Face-to-face contact is being interrupted by multitasking across screens. Silence is uncomfortable unless you have a digital device in your hand. Researches show that constant screen exposure weakens the ability to read facial expressions and emotional cues. Empathy diminishes, attention spans fade. Even parents who use their phones around their children are disrupting emotional connection. It’s not a small change in behavior, but a deeply transformative one with serious consequences in our daily socialization.

We talk more than ever. Messages, comments, reactions. And depth and intimacy in communication? Not really.

Social media has only magnified and multiplied the problems. Community used to mean shared physical space and stable long-term interaction. Now it often means just an audience. Feed. Performance. You don’t belong, you just participate and post. And the logic and algorithms of the platforms reward attention and visibility, but not understanding. Likes instead of listening. Metrics instead of understanding.

These communication systems are not neutral tools. They are designed to keep us there, scrolling, clicking, checking, reacting. Notifications, threads, endless feeds and scrolling. Little dopamine hits. Over and over.

Then anxiety happens. Sleep is disrupted. Self-esteem is tied to numbers and online validation. Especially among young people. There is strong evidence linking excessive social media use to depression, loneliness, and mood instability, and yet we still treat it as normal behavior because everyone is online.

We have not built social norms for digital balance. We have not found answers to critical public health questions, and we have only normalized excessive use.

Artificial Intelligence: Outsourcing thinking

Artificial Intelligence is a game-changer. Previous technologies have expanded our memory and accelerated communication. AI is expanding thinking itself. Writing, summarizing, analyzing, making decisions. Practical, yes. Powerful, absolutely. But also very risky if not done properly and carefully.

When thinking becomes optional, it simultaneously weakens it. Students who use AI often skip the cognitive stage that results in understanding. Adults who use AI without proper training show more stress and lower self-esteem. The tool that is supposed to help ends up being addictive.

I'm not saying that AI is bad. It's not. It can support learning, creativity, accessibility. But without educational frameworks, it becomes a machine for addiction to technology. And economic addiction to buying premium versions of AI-based services.

We externalize memory and cognitive activities to algorithms and the cloud. We externalize reasoning. Where does it all end?

We have adapted to rapid technological innovation as consumers and users, but not as societies, communities, and citizens. We know how to install applications, but do not how algorithms shape our perception. We accept terms of service without reading them. We exchange data for any convenience and time saving. We measure ourselves through the metrics of digital platforms. Meanwhile, regulation is slow, fragmented, often reactive. Educational systems teach software skills, but rarely teach attention control, digital ethics, or AI literacy. Psychological protection is almost nonexistent.

What would real adaptation mean?

If we were actually adapting, socially, not just consumer and commercial-wise three things would look drastically different.

First, education. Digital literacy would mean more than using tools. It would involve critical analysis of media, awareness of algorithms, ethics of artificial intelligence, attention control. Learning how to think with technology without letting it think for us.

Second, regulation. The design of platforms would be scrutinized in the same way that we scrutinize food safety or pharmaceuticals. Child protection would be proactive, not reactive. Data use would be transparent.

Third, mental health protection. We would treat problematic digital use as a public health issue. Promoting offline interaction. Rebuilding shared spaces and physical interaction. Normalizing disconnection from digital devices as a healthy behavior. Right now, we are doing the opposite. Constant connectivity is the norm while disconnection is an aberration.

So here we are. Technologically advanced, socially unprepared and fragmented, personally isolated while being stressed and anxious. Cognitively assisted, mentally exhausted. Connected but alone.

Finally, the point is not to reject technology or AI. That would be naive and impossible. The point is to stop encouraging and imposing its use without adaptation and protection. Using tools is becoming easier. Building rules, norms, protections, and skills for them, that's the hard part. We're skipping the hard part, at least for now.

But unless we develop educational, regulatory, and psychological frameworks that match the speed of innovation, technology will continue to shape human behavior according to market logic and profit, not human well-being. And that's the real risk. Not the machines themselves, but our failure to grow with them.

Sead Dzigal,
2026.