I Am VERY Afraid of What Could Happen (Dystopia Behind a Corner?)

I've just clawed my way out of a pretty bad depressive episode where I coped by endless scrolling on instagram reels. My screen time skyrocketed to disgusting 10-13 hours of screen time a day. I am ashamed of it. I used the media as a distraction to whatever terrible feelings of scorching anxiety and rock bottom sadness came and went. I didn't care as long as I didn't have to occupy myself with these. Now I'm back on my feet and I'm realizing: THIS is a REALITY to MILLIONS of people EVERY SINGLE DAY. And most of them cultivated themselves to be that way. Millions are trapped in this cycle, their lives dictated by social media and dopamine hits.

Now what we ended up with is an example of a (forgive the buzzword) chronically online person. They traded their entire life and - as I forshadowed in the intro - their personal data along the way. This human being is basically making voluntary sacrifices each and every day to tell the big corps how they are currently feeling, their interest, age, ethnic background, and many many many more.

Why can't we break free?

But why is that they just can't let go and quit the media they consume? The answer is automatized algorithms that feed our brains with cheap, short acting dopamine. Yes, you've read that countless times everywhere. However with recent studies, this behavior could damage your brain in the long run. Have you ever heard about the flynn effect for example? No longer true. The youngest kids out there aka gen Alpha are several times less intelligent that gen Z, which makes us currently the smartest generation out there. Is it terrifying? Absolutely. And the cause for that? Being fed absolutely nonsense content every single day for SEVERAL HOURS instead of exploring the world, thus helping their brains develop correctly. Is this the kid's fault? Absolutely not.

So we've now got children who's intelligence levels went back several DECADES, addictive algorithms that harvest data and people willing to let them harvest their data. I bet you've already connected the dots. If you add AI to the mix as well then congratulations, we are fucked beyond recognition. 

How is this dangerous?

Why is AI dangerous if considered in this very situation? Let me demonstrate using a simple metaphor. AI is like sodium in this example. Sodium is known to be extremely reactive with water, leading to combustion and explosive fire. Now imagine everything I've listed as crucial elements to make water, but in this situation, the water is toxic to drink. Then you throw in just a little tiny bit of sodium, which results in the sodium getting on fire. Now take a sip.

What does it mean tho? A very simple thing actually. The algorithms and people's chase for dopamine is already very dangerous. Now if paired with AI, it will make people surrender even easier because it can be tailored way more precisely and effectively to draw you in and not let go. But I am a grown person and still have a little bit of a choice, because I grew up in an enviroment this didn't exist yet thus being able to observe the development and rise while being somewhat mentally developed. Plus I was taught to really study things in depth which young children cannot comprehend nowadays because no one gave them an encyclopaedia and told them "here, entertain yourself".

This logically leads to people being very easy to manipulate, because with such algorithms AND AI, you can create propaganda suited exactly towards every individual on this earth to praise the same thing. And I am totally not exaggerating when I say this is already happening: see the anti LGBT posts literally everywhere, toxic masculinity and hustle culture? Ding dong, smells like propaganda to you? Very much to me actually.

What's the solution?

In conclusion, the solution could be slowly abandoning and breaking these algorithms. This would drastically stunt the growth of them, meaning more people would ACTUALLY BE AWARE of what's happening around them. We need to dismantle these systems, stop feeding the algorithms, and reclaim our minds. This isn't just a personal battle; it's a call for a digital revolution. And I hope that it will be one to "burn down" tech corps once and for all - this serves us no good. IT SERVES THEM AND THEM ONLY.

Are you ready to see the truth?