With the recent developments in AI technology, we are entering a new era of manipulation through captology. Mainstream websites/apps are well known to utilize captology to manipulate its users. But now captology is AI driven and will reach a new dimension of manipulation. In the very near future, every mainstream OS will be AI infested. This means, manipulation will start as soon you turn on your PC/smartphone.

The internet and computing in general is no longer a harmless activity. Now it is objectively a great danger for the users mental self-determination to use mainstream websites/OS/software. Because I honestly don’t believe, that anyone can outsmart AI driven Captology. People who claim this, probably also believe they can consume heroin without becoming addicted.

This is why I believe, that now is the last chance to escape from this pernicious trend. This means, now is the time to fundamentally rethink and reorganize our habits of using the internet and computer technology.

I don’t claim to know the perfect way out, but I can only share what I am doing. I believe that some kind of off grid computing is the solution.

-My tech: Laptop with Linux Mint, Nokia Dumbphone, FM tuner -No home internet connection. I only use public wifi. (Psychological reason, to keep me from mindless surfing)

A few years ago, I would have called someone with this lifestyle an insane luddite. But today, I prefer to be an insane luddite, than to be a dopamine addicted consoomer who is being controlled by AI driven captology.

  • sugar_in_your_tea
    3·
    1 year ago

    I think that’s bit extreme. I prefer to instead look for where I’m dependent/addicted and make corrections instead of avoid anything that could be addicting. For example:

    • I found I spent way too much time on Facebook, so I deleted my account and switched to Reddit as a lurker (eventually made an account)
    • I didn’t like how much I depended on Windows, so I switched to Linux
    • I found I was too emotionally attached to the news, so I stopped reading/watching it; Reddit helped because I was about to subscribe to only the types of news stories I was interested in (mostly tech)
    • I found I used Reddit too much and didn’t like the changes they were making, so I switched to lemmy

    And so on. Here’s my tech stack:

    • laptop and gaming desktop - openSUSE Tumbleweed
    • phone - cheap moto phone, will switch to Pixel soon to switch to GrapheneOS
    • home Internet - 50/10 Internet that’s reasonably inexpensive; I’ve largely solved the endless searching problem by getting into hobbies (reading, writing, video games, cycling)
    • TVs - one smart TV and another “dumb” TV; I kinda hate the smart TV and use a raspberry pi for the “dumb” TV for streaming services
    • streaming services - Disney+ (kids) and Netflix (wife and kids); I used to be kinda addicted to Netflix, but I did some introspection and decided I don’t really like their shows anyway, so I’ll only watch like 1-2 series in a given year
    • consoles - switch and steam deck

    In other words, I’ve found I can effectively detect and control my behavior. I still spend way too much time on things that don’t matter, but I did that as well as a kid without a phone or consistent Internet access (we had dialup), so I don’t think cutting things out is the solution.

    My process is to set aside time to review how I spend my time at least once each year, and I’ll review my phone apps more frequently (about every other month). My phone’s launcher only shows 8 apps:

    • text messaging (no phone app, I rarely make calls)
    • bank app
    • browser
    • lemmy app - by far my biggest time suck these days, I may need to remove it from the list
    • maps
    • calculator
    • YouTube app - actually newpipe; only shows updates from subscriptions, so no recommendations
    • Libby for audiobooks

    That’s it. If I want something else, I have to go look for it, and I rarely do that.

    When it comes to AI, I really don’t have much exposure to it. I buy video games based on recommendations from people, not web services, and I generally only play single player games without microtransactions. I only open a streaming service if I already know what I want to watch. And so on.

    This works for me, so I remain pretty connected, but in a controlled way. If you want to try it, set aside time to do some introspection on why you’re doing the things you do. Are you mindlessly scrolling because you’re bored? Try a hobby so you have something you’re excited about! Do you find yourself in stupid arguments on SM? Set aside a fixed time each day to use SM (there are apps that disable apps after a certain amount of time spent).