Originally published in Psychology Today, February 28, 2025
Do you know that Gen Z has become the loneliness generation of all, with 73 percent of Gen Zers reporting often feeling alone or disconnected. They are not alone, as all generations have decreased the amount of time that we engage with friends and family in person. Not only do young people prefer interacting with AI-fueled tech instead of conversing with one another, both adults and children build strong relationships through technology that wholly replace the need to interact with humans. It goes without saying that this technology will never be able to provide a human with the deep, psychologically nourishing relationship another human can. Despite this, people keep turning to technology to satisfy their social needs.
Now, I’m not saying that AI is all bad, in fact, at this very moment, artificial intelligence is being used to teach deaf children how to read by translating text into sign language. But for all the good, there’s also the bad. In early 2024, IBM replaced 8,000 jobs with AI. A World Economic Forum named disinformation powered by AI the top global threat in 2024, beating out climate change and war. This digital intelligence that aims to replicate human behavior is also being used to create refined phishing schemes that cost us millions. Obviously, our fear of losing our place in the world or being taken advantage of impacts our mental health.
Artificial intelligence isn’t objectively good or bad. How it impacts us comes down to how it’s used. Its ability to help us achieve our end goal faster than ever before means that AI will be infused into everything we touch.
If we want to protect our mental health from the companies who wield AI, we must take matters into our own hands.
In 1984, 35 percent of 13-year-olds reported reading every day. In 2023, that number dropped to 14 percent. Long have American children struggled in subjects like math and science, but it wasn’t until recently that our kids struggled with information literacy as well. The reason is quite simple: kids just don’t read anymore. You can, in part, blame it on TikTok brain. When a child’s attention span lasts no more than a few seconds, asking them to read an entire book seems impossible. But is it just our youth, or is it impacting us all?
When we Google something, there is a list of options to choose from. We can decide the title, the source, the timeframe, and even the tone of where we choose to retrieve our information. However, when we allow algorithms powered by AI, content becomes more tailored and ubiquitous: AI is making those decisions for us. Follow me on this…
When we use an AI-powered tool like ChatGPT, we allow this tool to make those decisions for us—it decides the source, the date of material, the tone and more. When we take ChatGPT results as our main source, we allow it to inform our truth. However, when we continue to do our own work, we read and navigate the sources to maintain agency over our decisions. Reading improves our ability to think critically, expands our vocabulary, builds empathy, our attention span, and reduces stress.
But it’s not just book smarts that are in decline, but also emotional intelligence. When we retreat into ourselves, we lack human engagement. Never before have we had so many ways to entertain ourselves that don’t involve interacting with others.
Mastering AI to become more efficient at school, work, and your daily life is a crucial skill we’ll all want in our toolkit moving forward. The single most effective way I’ve been able to tame AI is by making it my employee. Too often we let AI create our schedules, write emails, and personalize our streaming feeds. This is all fine, so long as AI knows who’s in charge.
We need to stop taking such a back seat and assuming AI knows what’s best. For example, I use CoPilot to expedite the email-writing process. While I sometimes let these programs do the legwork, I always get the final say. If an email misses the point or uses words that don’t sound like me, I simply change it.
For better and for worse, AI has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. How we respond determines our mental well-being.
Here are actionable steps you can take to improve your relationship with AI technology:
Be Cautious About What You Read. With disinformation on the rise, it’s paramount that you use a more critical eye when consuming information, especially if that information was found through social media.
Automate Social Engagements. After a draining day at work, it can be difficult to muster the strength to ask a friend to meet up. Instead, automate social activities into your life. That means setting up scheduled activities every week. Things like weekly yoga, game night, or co-ed sports are all great ways to automate your social life.
Understand AI Limitations. AI shouldn’t replace human interaction or your need to create and think critically. An AI algorithm is only as good as the person who created it.
Educate Those Around You. Once you have an understanding on how to best use AI, share that knowledge with others. We are all learning together, and the game is changing daily.
AI Works For You. You always have the final say. If you feel like AI has too much power in your life, take a more active role in how you use it, alter the algorithm, or reduce how often you use it.
I am not a luddite, but as a public health expert, educator, and mother, I recognize the positive and negative disruptive nature this new technology has on our children and society at large. To start using it for good, we need to become more intentional about how we use it.
References
Marr, B. (2020, June 22). 10 wonderful examples of using artificial intelligence (AI) for good. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/06/22/10-wonderful-exampl…
Yahoo Finance. (August 14, 2023). IBM plans to replace nearly 8. [Article Title Incomplete]. Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibm-plans-replace-nearly-8-174052360.htm…
World Economic Forum. (2024). The Global Risks Report 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2024.pdf
Schatz, K. (Nov 21, 2024). Kids’ reading literacy crisis: Why books are more crucial than ever. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/386286/kids-reading-literacy-crisis-books (Note: The URL provided does not directly lead to a specific article, and the details provided seem to be incomplete or incorrect. Please verify the link and details.)
ABC7. (June 21, 2024). [Gen Z is loneliest generation, as young people yearn for more meaningful friendships, experts say.
https://abc7.com/post/gen-is-loneliest-generation-research-finds-expert…
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