Well-being digital: can we live together with artificial intelligence?

A connected world, but we're really serene?

We wake up to the sound of an alarm clock is intelligent. Scrolliamo the feed of our social bookmark while on the phone suggests to us the news of the day. During the breakfast, a speaker voice informs us on the weather and, if we are lucky, even on your mood of the day thanks to a playlist generated by an algorithm. Artificial intelligence is there with us, in every moment, even in the smallest. But there is a question that creeps under the surface: this constant connection we are really doing well?

The concept of well-being digital born right here. It is an attempt to respond to the need – more – urgent- live a healthy relationship with technology, in particular, with the AI. A relationship that there is consumption, there iperstimoli, not overloaded, but that the us media, we respect, we the best. Can we really live together in a peaceful manner with an artificial intelligence ever-present, pervasive and often invisible?

What it means to well-being digital?

The well-being digital is a state of balance between the use of technology and our health-mental, emotional, and relational. This is not to demonize or smartphone app, but it take awareness of how these tools affect our concentration, our mood, our relationships with others. The goal is to recover a sense of control, avoid information overload and to rediscover moments of disconnection as spaces of regeneration.

In a sense, is the modern equivalent of the mental hygiene. So as we learn to eat in a healthy way or to take breaks from work, the same way we can learn to manage our relationship with the digital. Only that, in the case of artificial intelligence, the challenge is more subtle: the AI does not merely suggest, but anticipates. Provides, offers, and suitable experience to our tastes, and behaviors. The risk is not aware even of what we're modeling.

Artificial intelligence and our minds

The AI comes into our lives with a promise: to simplify. And often keeps this promise. Saves time, automates boring tasks, helps us to find information, to translate text and even to meditate. But any simplification comes at a price. And that price, if not managed, you pay attention, autonomy, critical capacity.

The well-being digital can't do without this reflection: the AI makes us more efficient, but also makes us more vulnerable to distraction. The most exposed to a continuous stream of notifications, suggestions, ideas on the measure. Everything is designed to keep us connected, involved, inside. But what happens to our mind when there is not enough space to get out, to stop?

A study published on Nature Human Behaviour it has been shown that an intensive use of applications based on AI can reduce the tolerance of boredom, making us more anxious and less able to remain in silence. This does not mean that the artificial intelligence is harmful in itself, but it is necessary to design – and use – these tools with greater awareness.

AI can help us to feel better?

Not everything is negative. There is an AI-oriented well-being, and it is growing. There are apps that help us to meditate, to monitor sleep, to recognize the signs of stress. Some platforms are capable of detecting the early warning signs of burnout through the analysis of the language or of the habits of digital. In the clinical setting, the AI is already being used in support of psychotherapy, for example, to the processing of diaries, emotional, intelligent, or for the management of anxiety.

The problem, however, is not so much what is the AI, but as live it. If we become addicted to an app to know how we are, we are assigning our self-perception. If we need an algorithm to remember to take a break, maybe we pushed too far. Technology can help, but it should not replace our sense of presence.

A daily example: - notifications and warning

Notifications are one of the most simple and concrete. Each time the phone vibrates, our attention shifts. Even if you do not open the app, the thought is there, partially absorbed. Many assistants TO customize the content of notifications on the basis of our habits. It seems useful, but actually increases the frequency of interaction and the difficulty to stay focused. The result? A sense of constant stirring, a mind that is always on, but rarely present.

On La Bussola dell'IA we have already talked about how AI affects our attention: it is not only a matter of time, but of mental quality. AI can help us to be productive, but can also reduce our ability to focus, if we do not learn to manage its mechanisms.

Frequently asked questions about the well-being digital

Need to disable everything to feel good?
No, but it is useful to understand what we struggle and what we charge. The well-being digital is not isolation, but balance.

The AI can be done by a therapist?
In some contexts, yes, but should be used as a support, not as a substitute. The human relationship remains irreplaceable.

What can I do to improve my well-being digital?
Consciously choose the app, reduce notifications, create moments of disconnection, and to recognize when the mind needs to rest. Even a can be an ally, if we set this in the right way.

Towards a society that is more aware

To live together peacefully with the artificial intelligence is possible, but doesn't happen automatically. Requires intention, knowledge, critical spirit. It means learning how to use AI without to suffer for it, to exploit its potential without losing sight of who we are. It is a matter of balance, but also of culture. A culture of well-being digital that puts at the centre the human being, not the algorithm.

The future will not be less connected to the contrary. But it can be more healthy. If we learn to ask the technology adapt to us instead of adapting ourselves to you, then yes, we will be able to live together peacefully. And perhaps, even better than we think.

Internal links:
Focus in the crisis: how AI affects our daily attention

Authoritative external link:
Nature Human Behaviour – “Digital well-being and attention”