A decade ago, smart devices promised to change the way we think and interact, and they have – but not by making us smarter. Eric Andrew-Gee explores the growing body of scientific evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds
Smartphones and Cognition: A Review of Research Exploring the Links between Mobile Technology Habits and Cognitive Functioning
While smartphones and related mobile technologies are recognized as flexible and powerful tools that, when used prudently, can augment human cognition, there is also a growing perception that habitual involvement with these devices may have a negative and lasting impact on users’ ability to think, remember, pay attention, and regulate emotion. The present review considers an intensifying, though still limited, area of research exploring the potential cognitive impacts of smartphone-related habits, and seeks to determine in which domains of functioning there is accruing evidence of a significant relationship between smartphone technology and cognitive performance, and in which domains the scientific literature is not yet mature enough to endorse any firm conclusions. We focus our review primarily on three facets of cognition that are clearly implicated in public discourse regarding the impacts of mobile technology – attention, memory, and delay of gratification – and then consider evidence regarding the broader relationships between smartphone habits and everyday cognitive functioning. Along the way, we highlight compelling findings, discuss limitations with respect to empirical methodology and interpretation, and offer suggestions for how the field might progress toward a more coherent and robust area of scientific inquiry.
The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world
We check our phones every 12 minutes, often just after waking up. Always-on behaviour is harmful to long-term mental health, and we need to learn to the hit the pause button
This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby
The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech.”
the chronically online will become a new underclass
Digital Echoes and Unquiet Minds - Christopher Butler
There's a psychological burden of digital life even heavier than distraction.
Decentralizing My Smartphone With Single Purpose Devices
Lately, I’ve become nostalgic for the days before smartphones, when the internet was a place we went to deliberately, and not a place that lived on all of ou...
The digital exiles: Why people are abandoning their smartphones - Coda Story
A growing movement of “former screenagers” is calling for a screen-free, surveillance-free life, for a chance to build a future beyond tech capture
The Linear Oppression of Note-taking Apps
What we lose when our digital notes remove the freedom to move
Understanding the influence of digital technology on human cognitive functions: A narrative review
In the era of rapid digitalization, the widespread integration of digital technology into various aspects of daily life has sparked significant interest in understanding its impact on cognitive mental processes. While the emerging data suggests that its influence may be positive or negative, the depth of evidence regarding neurobiological mechanisms remains limited. This review aims to synthesize previously published studies and develop a comprehensive framework that systematically categorizes digital technologies, the cognitive functions they impact, and developmental stages around the concept of neuroplasticity, while clearly illustrating their interconnections. Despite acknowledged limitations, through an exhaustive approach, this paper intends to offer a dynamic perspective on the effects of digital media on the human brain, before the onset of addiction.
Is smartphone addiction really an addiction?
Aims In light of the rise in research on technological addictions and smartphone addiction in particular, the aim of this paper was to review the relevant literature on the topic of smartphone addiction and determine whether this disorder exists or if it does not adequately satisfy the criteria for addiction. Methods We reviewed quantitative and qualitative studies on smartphone addiction and analyzed their methods and conclusions to make a determination on the suitability of the diagnosis “addiction” to excessive and problematic smartphone use. Results Although the majority of research in the field declares that smartphones are addictive or takes the existence of smartphone addiction as granted, we did not find sufficient support from the addiction perspective to confirm the existence of smartphone addiction at this time. The behaviors observed in the research could be better labeled as problematic or maladaptive smartphone use and their consequences do not meet the severity levels of those caused by addiction. Discussion and conclusions Addiction is a disorder with severe effects on physical and psychological health. A behavior may have a similar presentation as addiction in terms of excessive use, impulse control problems, and negative consequences, but that does not mean that it should be considered an addiction. We propose moving away from the addiction framework when studying technological behaviors and using other terms such as “problematic use” to describe them. We recommend that problematic technology use is to be studied in its sociocultural context with an increased focus on its compensatory functions, motivations, and gratifications.
The dawn of trustworthy computing
When we currently use a smart phone or a laptop on a cell network or the Internet, the other end of these interactions typically run on othe...
Rethinking how technology uses our personal data
This essay explores visually how keeping data and AI on‑device could empower not only users, but also companies.
Stop Vibecoding Screen Readers — fireborn
There's a trend on Android right now that is going to get someone hurt. Hurt in the sense of a blind person picking up their phone in the worst possible moment and finding out the thing they depend on to interact with the world has decided to just not work.
Too risky for the road but safe for schools? Rethinking smart glasses in the science classroom
This paper critically examines the governance of smart glasses in K-12 science education, using science classrooms as a case through which policy design challenges become visible. We position these wearable technologies not only as tools of pedagogical innovation but as governance challenges requiring regulatory attention. The vendors of smart glasses claim that their devices enhance real-time visualisation, support hands-free inquiry, and personalise activity. Yet, despite increased consumer availability and promotion by vendors, smart glasses are inconsistently specified in Australian school policy, unlike other high-stakes sectors such as transportation where wearable device categories are explicitly regulated. Drawing on a comparative analysis of policy associated with Australia’s K-12 mobile phones and the 2023 Victorian Road Rule Amendments “New Driver Distraction Road Rules”, this study proposes that science education requires similar anticipatory governance. Whereas the road safety framework classifies wearable technologies as potential sources of cognitive distraction and provides a stratified risk profile, device-specific restrictions, and enforcement mechanisms, we illustrate a stark contrast to the comparable provisions analysed in educational policy. This analysis identifies governance-relevant risk categories for staff, students, and schools that are not consistently addressed in the education policy texts examined, and that are difficult to standardise through discretionary, school-level interpretation alone. As such, this paper contributes to global conversations on educational justice, digital governance, and the ethical integration of emerging technologies in education.
No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior
Electronic media present us with a collage of experiences from everyplace. We eat dinner at home while watching starving children thousands of miles away reach out to us for food. From our easy chairs, we stare at blindfolded hostages, and coolly
