The famous American social psychologist and professor at New York University, Jonathan Haidt, thinks phones have essentially ruined a generation, or at least seriously handicapped it.

His new book The Anxious Generation dives into the data that shows it. Adolescent mental health took a nosedive in the early 2010s, concomitant with the ubiquity of the smartphone. Combined with “helicopter parenting,” children are no longer getting outside or meeting up with friends like they used to. They’re stuck on their phones in their bedrooms for hours every day.

None of this is news to you, I’m guessing. I can’t count how many times I’ve written about the troublesome effects of smartphone use on Gen Z or referenced the fine work of Haidt in this regard.

It is worth extrapolating, however, how Haidt talks about artificial intelligence in his book. The internet is a tempting world to get subsumed in. Gaming, online porn, YouTube — millions of young people have “checked out” and seem content with the superficial amenities of the virtual universe. They’ve been primed, so to speak, for the next iteration of the digital age: AI interface.

Haidt notes that social media companies already use AI to try and appeal to new users. He writes,

One way that companies get users to spend more time on their apps is by using artificial intelligence to select what to put into a user’s feed. Based on the time users spend viewing different kinds of content, AI then serves them more such content. This is why short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are said to be so addictive: Their algorithms are able to quickly detect whatever it is that makes users pause as they scroll, which means they can pick up on unconscious wishes and interests that the user may not even be aware of, leading a minor to be served inappropriate sexual content, for example (p. 231).

Social media employs AI to hook users, basically, particularly kids whose brains are still developing. Haidt mentions anecdotally elsewhere in the book how his daughter, six years old at the time, once asked him to take the iPad away from her because she couldn’t do it herself. Wow.

AI is additionally being explored in the online dating world. The former CEO of Bumble, a highly popular online dating app, said that AI could play the role of “concierge” for the app user. In addition, it’s sobering to wonder how, as AI chatbots become more advanced, the virtual sex industry will become even more potent and ensnaring.

I am still working through Haidt’s book (perhaps his magnum opus) and will be sure to highlight more quotes and important parts of it in the future. In the meantime, consider purchasing it for yourself, especially if you have children!