Spanish
This technology allows for the adaptation of the content offered by internet platforms or services (social media, videos, or video games) to the tastes of each user in practically real-time, which implies a direct risk, but also numerous indirect risks, as it can relegate other essential tasks or habits, such as rest, study, social relationships, outdoor activities, or other forms of leisure.
Addictive patterns are those repetitive behaviors that a person adopts compulsively and that are difficult to control, and in addition to substances (such as alcohol, tobacco or drugs) they can manifest with certain behaviors or habits, such as gambling, food or the use of screens and the internet, and in this case artificial intelligence systems are multiplying the most harmful patterns.
To prolong the time users spend on some digital platforms, they employ techniques that induce 'infinite scroll' or automatic playback so that a person stays hooked without realizing the time they are spending, to create a false sense of urgency through constant alerts or to instill fear of missing something important when the person is offline.
A "planfully biased" framework
Sergio Rodríguez, consultant at the European Research Executive Agency (REA), has no doubt how AI has triggered those risks associated with the most addictive patterns of the internet, nor that screens are replacing the agora as a space for socialization, and warns that the population that uses them the most - young people - is also the one with the fewest emotional resources. "The population between 12 and 21 years old perceives the world through that deliberately biased framework, with the aggravating factor that it intentionally contains addictive elements," Sergio Rodríguez told EFE, and asserted: "adolescents feel they control the world from the palm of their hand, when in reality it is precisely the opposite."Over the past few months, research has been conducted that warns of the addictive potential of artificial intelligence due to its ability to generate completely personalized content in an infinite way; that warns of the risks to mental health, especially for minors, and of the dangers hidden in digital environments that can be exacerbated by the irruption of this disruptive technology.
The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) published a report on addictive patterns and their implications for the protection of personal data and concluded that with the arrival of increasingly sophisticated design patterns, some companies have introduced features in the market that are not only attractive, but also "deceptive and addictive" and that in many cases also collect a lot of personal data.These patterns achieve, for example, behavioral changes in many people that can be considered symptoms of an addiction - such as unconsciously unlocking a mobile phone every few minutes - the AEPD has pointed out in its report, in which it notes that the "omnipresent" nature of these addictive design patterns can have far-reaching consequences and that prolonged exposure to them can have detrimental effects on health (such as sleep disturbances or higher levels of stress or anxiety).
Measures to promote 'digital detox'
Among the measures to protect oneself from these patterns and to favor 'digital detox', this organization proposes a combination of personal awareness and self-discipline, as well as practical strategies, such as disabling notifications to avoid constantly checking screens, deactivating autoplay, setting time limits, or reviewing the settings of all applications.
Sergio Rodríguez, consultant for the REA and professor at the Universitat Abat Oliba CEU in Barcelona (Spain), also sees possibilities for curbing these patterns, both through education and regulation, and has emphasized in that sense the importance of families and schools educating children and young people in the proper use of artificial intelligence, that this use be "progressive, critical and creative", and to avoid prolonged exposure to devices. In his opinion, the EU has emphasized something fundamental, regulation, "but we have barely dedicated resources to training" through schools, and users are unaware of how to avoid misuse, how to realize they are being instrumentalized, how to be aware that they are losing their autonomy, and how critical and creative use can help them in their personal and professional development.
