Will AI Affect Your Mind and Attention?

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Let me start with a question.

Do you sometimes find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information around you?

• Emails
• Social Media
• News
• Streaming TV
• The Internet

If you do…me too.

I was at the AI summit in London this week and couldn’t help but think (and ask unprepared presenters) Will AI affect your mind and attention?

We will now have more information, unfiltered, and faster.

The Rise of AI and Its Impact on Our Lives

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is becoming increasingly prevalent in our lives. From our smartphones to our cars, AI is everywhere. It’s changing the way we live, work, and even think. It’s not just about robots and self-driving cars, AI is also about algorithms that can analyze data and make decisions, often faster and more accurately than humans can.

But what does this mean for our minds and attention?

How AI Affects Our Attention Spans

This thought fitted really well with a podcast by Ezra Klein, a columnist at the New York Times.

The podcast was a narration of his article about how our digital world has shifted our focus, attention, and generally how we think.

Klein spoke about our hopes for the internet, and how it was sold to us as this miraculous gift that would unite humanity and unite the knowledge of the entire planet.

But what did we get?

We got a tool that degrades our attention spans and weakens our concentration.

We are constantly bombarded with things we would normally look away from – injustices and the ugliest parts of society.

He finally spoke about a study where our attention span has gone from 2.5 minutes in 2004, to currently 47 Seconds.

The most powerful line I heard was this:

“This is an acid bath for human cognition.“

Ezra Klein – The Ezra Klein Show – Beyond the ‘Matrix’ Therory of the Mind

The Psychological Impact of AI

AI doesn’t just affect our attention spans, it also has a profound impact on our psychological well-being. The constant barrage of information can lead to feelings of overwhelm and anxiety. It can also lead to a dependency on AI, as we become reliant on it for everything from answering emails to navigating our way home.

The Future of AI and Our Minds

So, what does the future hold for AI and our minds? Will we continue to be bombarded with information, or will we find a way to harness the power of AI in a way that benefits our mental health and well-being?

So, What Do We Do Now?

We are always hurtling towards ‘more and fast’, and A.I. is only going to give us more of that.

I guess the question is, how much more can we take?

So, how do we find peace in this chaos? How do we maintain our sanity and productivity in this barrage of information?

Here’s where I believe the practice of mindfulness meditation comes in.

It’s not just about closing your eyes and focusing on your breath, but about cultivating deep, mindful attention to our experiences and actions, moment by moment.

It’s about learning to engage with our world, both online and offline, in a thoughtful and balanced way.

We don’t need more intelligence, we need deeper intelligence.

Practicing mindfulness won’t make the challenges of the digital age disappear. But it will arm us with the resilience and insight to navigate them.

So, here’s a friendly reminder to take a few moments every day to unplug, breathe, and be present.

Remember, we’re not failing if we’re not keeping up with every piece of information thrown our way.

Instead, let’s strive to meaningfully engage with what truly matters to us.

You can listen to the podcast here on Spotify.