Digital Health and AI Usage
As summer gets rolling, here is hoping that our kids will be outside and enjoying the natural world around them. But try as we might, often times they will return to the online world with which they have become so intertwined. It goes without saying that we want to know the types of sites that they are accessing, but a new area that should get our attention is the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
AI certainly has it’s place and is technology designed to simulate human thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. In a web training titled “Healthy Relationships in the Digital Age” presented by Harborview Abuse & Trauma Center, the question was posed by Marc Zao-Sanders, “How are people really using Gen AI in 2025?” Surprisingly, the number one answer was therapy and emotional support which means that people, and youths are increasingly turning to AI for help with dating conversations, interpreting texts, relationship conflicts, break-ups, and emotional decisions. Hence, AI is mediating our relationships!
In her article “The People Outsourcing Their Thinking to AI” by Lila Shroff, shares “The human brain likes to conserve energy and will take available shortcuts to do so. It takes a lot of energy to do certain kinds of thought processes. Meanwhile a bot is sitting there offering to take over the cognitive work for you”.
You may see the problem; when we allow AI to do the thinking for us, we do not develop the skills ourselves and fall into what is termed “cognitive debt”. Our abilities only develop through practice and experience. I encourage you to watch the entire slide presentation which can be found at https://depts.washington.edu/uwhatc/education-forum/ so you can be aware of the benefits and drawbacks that AI can have on us and our children.
