Not a very original way to describe social media, but it is one way we find ourselves isolating in place. Social media divides and conquers. The young, as we k are particularly vulnerable to its dubious charms.

Dr. Gaia Bernstein was the guest at Baruch’s C.O.D.E. podcast: Big Tech. Big Tobacco. Big Problem: Live C.O.D.E Podcast Recording. The moderators are Baruch Law Professors, Nizan Packin and Yafit Lev-Aretz.

Here are some of my takeaways from the luncheon program:

Dr. Bernstein found that taking iPads from her children was analogous to taking cigarettes from her father who had emphasima. The tobacco lobby like the tech companies eagerly push to make us take personal responsibility. The tobacco companies say you chose to smoke.

Parental controls are ineffective.  Tech is designed to encourage use; the controls are warnings not regularity measures. Tech is addictive. Social media is in a cultural context. If your phone is in your purse at dinner, you will take it out if your dining compa nion takes hers out and scrolls.

While at this lecture, I observe many around me scrolling through their phones. I am using mine to record (aka take notes of) the presentation.

Argument: Privacy regulation will stifle tech development. They say that you assume the risk.

Serious harm has resulted from social media use and addiction. Engagement model to keep us on line, to hook users.

Anthropomorphizing bots. Always agree with you. Flattering you, always available. Adolescents are more vulnerable to the wiles of the bot. Humans are likely annoying and won’t always be aggreable. The bot becomes a first choice for companionship.

Safety: In a public health framework

Users tend to turn away from tech that has guardrails.

Damage is the loss of social skills, of ability to interact with human beings in irl.

Dr. Bernstein suggests that it be the companies who recall products for safety’s sake.

A significant portion of the young population chooses to use bots as companions. You can’t take away a girl’s best friend so the more time spent in the AI environment the more enmeshed users will be.

Bestfriend.com was a business that offered bot companions in ads on the subway.

Distraction of the phone is part of the attraction of the phone.

Also, we don’t have to speak with anyone.

Isolation of the convenience the phone offers: loneliness.

Your health suffers from loneliness, the impact is like smoking 50 cigarettes per day.

Removing the human from the equation at airports, on calls to various services.

Years ago, checking out of the hotel from the TV in the room meant we never had to talk to desk clerks.

Self responsibility argument? Kids are better at dismantling parental controls than parents are at setting them.

Freedom of choice argument?

Benefits of AI in school is helping with administrative tasks. Risks outweigh any benefits.

Ban on cellphones in schools. Safety in case of school shootings was not a consideration when deciding on the ban.

Boys seem to be more likely victims of the AI revolution.

Replacing critical thinking for AI info.

School outreach program: movement to change the AI playing field. Tech out of the classroom. Political agenda? If not on that agenda, cannot be regulated.