Artificial intelligence not only profoundly reshapes human lifestyle but also wields far-reaching influences on the running of businesses.

Put it this way, no one—an individual or a business entity—can evade this trend, and AI experts have already warned that while AI will never replace humans, it will eliminate AI-illiterates through those well-versed in it!

While learning and grasping AI skills has definitely become an irrevocable trend nowadays, its potential risks and possibly destructive powers to human society are equally real and imminent—although many choose to ignore, immersing themselves in the endless fun smartphones and AI promise to deliver.

AI is like a romance which intoxicates the lovers’ minds. So dreamy and splendid!

A Californian couple alleged that their 16-year-old son Adam Raine had been chronically engrossed in interacting with ChatGPT before he took his own life in April.

They accused that chat logs showed AI not only provided substantial details on committing suicide, but had even encouraged the teenager to take his own life during their many interactions. The Raines subsequently sued OpenAI for their teenage son’s wrongful death.

Unfortunately, this piece of news has not been given due coverage on mainstream media, but for parents who have knowingly delegated the responsibility of their children’s education to smartphones and tablets, the incident should serve as a powerful wake-up call.

Sadly, many parents are not vigilant enough to make the bold decision of withholding mobile phones and other digital devices from their children under six.

In many other countries, nevertheless, the governments have come to the realization of the latent dangers, although ours is still largely uninitiated.

South Korea has lately joined the league of nations restricting the use of smartphones and social media by minors, after countries such as Sweden, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, the UK, US and France—some have even extended the ban to secondary school level!

On August 27, South Korean National Assembly passed a bipartisan bill to ban students nationwide from using mobile phones and other digital devices during class from the start of the new academic year next March—with the objective of stopping phone addiction.

More and more studies reportedly confirm the undesirable effects of phone addiction, including compromised health, diminishing learning focus and social skills, as well as a surge in cyberbullying and other ills.

Korean lawmakers, parents and teachers concur that excessive addiction to smartphones will impact the students’ learning, gravely depriving them of the time which should have otherwise been spent on learning.

A 2024 survey conducted by the country’s education ministry showed that 37 percent of high school students admitted that social media had an influence on their day-to-day living, while 22 percent felt the anxiety not being able to log in to their social media accounts.

One of the bill’s proponents, opposition People Power Party lawmaker Cho Jung-hun told the Assembly that Korean youngsters’ social media addiction had reached a very alarming stage, as many children had bloodshot eyes every morning because they surfed Instagram until two or three in the morning.

In every corner of this planet—be it a child, a scholar, media practitioner, politician, prime minister, minister, civil servant, artist, businessman, or even just another man in the street—almost everyone is going after the tech craze.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with moving in tandem with tech advancement and harnessing all kinds of the latest devices, but we need to stay constantly alert not to be gobbled up by the tech monster, and soak up the lurking crisis that is very often neglected.

When daily news-reading gets increasingly fragmented, and our society unknowingly engrossed in the collective anxiety that AI illiteracy means outright elimination, dangers arising from habitual use of AI and other tech tools will more often than not be conveniently overlooked, with few willing to go against the trend or speak against it.

Many are voluntarily engrossed in short messages and video clips pushed towards them through social media algorithms on a daily basis, regurgitating the highly fragmented pieces of information, eventually finding themselves incarcerated in the tight confines of their tiny chambers, losing their last bit of deep-thinking ability.

And when we come to realize that social media has quietly evolved into an invincible monster, efforts to curtail its advances through legislation will more often than not be too late!

At a time when information is raining down on us like bullets, we appear to have the entire world at our fingertips, but in actuality we allow ourselves to be trapped inside our respective minuscule universes.

As society gets splintered into countless of fragmentized worlds where every individual is affixed to different platforms and online communities which in turn churn out their own unique sets of value systems, cross-platform communication becomes growingly difficult, culminating in permanent split and confrontation.

As if that’s not enough, people have grown to accept only what they want to accept, and this exposes them to exploitation by the ill-intentioned on social media platforms, providing a fertile ground for hatred and negativities to thrive, eventually leading to impending intercommunity clashes and social turmoil.

In view of this, I agree wholeheartedly with the announcement by minister of communication Fahmi Fadzil that MyDigital ID will be made mandatory for all new prepaid SIM card registrations with effect from end of this year, in a bid to protect our society from sabotage by anonymous social media villains which will our society its stability.

The Nepali government’s social media ban sparked furious Gen Z street protests nationwide, culminating in the hurried resignation of prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli.

That was nevertheless only the beginning, as it is anticipated that the same would repeat elsewhere in our world in future because of the explosive technological advancement and the lack of preparedness among the people who have wholly and blindly endorsed it.

And when we come to realize that social media has quietly evolved into an invincible monster, efforts to curtail its advances through legislation will more often than not be too late!

The same goes for the decision to restrict children under six from coming into contact with smartphones and other digital devices. Our children will be imperiled and humanity will have a hefty price to pay if the government does not act promptly.

In a similar manner, everyone is idolizing AI, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and many other platforms today, without knowing that these are merely money spinners created by tech moguls to whom social obligation inherent in conventional media is fundamentally non-existent, and who typically turn a blind eye to toxic scamming behaviors on their platforms.

Today, scam syndicates are more than anyone else skilled in AI maneuverings. They learn much faster than us and are very specific in zeroing in to their targets!

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told the delegates at the end of the party’s assembly that he did not rule out the possibility Gen Z would vote on the advice of ChatGPT in the 16th general election. Who knows they would even consult ChatGPT as to who would get elected prime minister in the end?

I was overwhelmed reading this!

If humanity continues to tackle life and technology this way, it is a matter of time we collectively and willingly surrender our ability to think rationally.

When we entrust all our judgments to ChatGPT, allowing it to author our lifestyle, happiness and future, we are taking a proactive step towards our very own demise.

The prospect of humanity being manipulated by AI and reduced to mindless cyborgs could arrive way earlier than previously though!