“The Escape Plan”

Last week I wrote about the hidden danger of AI and how it is slowly taking away freedoms, much like what happened during World War II and many times since. This week I thought it might be good to give you some ideas on how to escape from these dangers and gain back some freedom, mainly digital freedom. I would say that probably the biggest issue with regaining our freedom is the want. We really have to want freedom from technology before we can ever achieve it, and let’s face it, most, if not all of us, are in some way addicted to our technology.

I am going to speak mainly for myself on this first area, because I don’t know your particular addictions to technology, but for me I have two main ones. The first is social media. I can’t help but open my phone and scroll through my Facebook feed multiple times a day. I follow several groups talking about everything from Technology, to Religion and feel like I am going to miss something if I don’t check on it multiple times a day. The second is with mobile games. There are two that really suck a lot of my time. One is Pokemon Go; it is always running in the background on my phone collecting Pokemon and measuring my steps. Every time I go on a walk I open it to make sure I am getting my rewards for the exercise. The other is a new game to me, Meowduko; please, for the love of God do not download that game, you will lose hours of your life.

So now to get to the psychology behind the addictive behavior we can all get trapped in when it comes to technology. You might not want to believe me, but there are several sources that indicate companies like Facebook and the developers of mobile games use psychological methods to trap you in their games and applications. For Facebook it really just comes down to our desire to be noticed. We want others to notice us online and we, as a result, feed that desire in others. The really sad part is that somewhere around 70% of the feedback you see on a Facebook post is generated by their AI to make you want to post and scroll more.

When it comes to the addictive behavior in video games, there are a couple of really tricky factors. The first is how easy the game is to play; they are designing games that are just challenging enough to keep you interested, for example on Meowduko there seems to be a pattern of three or four really easy levels followed by a few levels that you can’t win on the first try because it forces a guess, and finally by a “hard” level that takes multiple tries to win. They also do not give you any limits on the number of retries, nor any limits on playing time, so essentially you can always win and keep playing forever. This to me is the worst combination for a game and sadly it describes most modern video games.

So how do you break this cycle? There is one company that is making money right now off of this very problem, and it is an old company with a rebirth. Commodore, Inc. They shipped their first Commodore 64U in time for Christmas last year, a remake of the Commodore 64 which was the number one selling computer of all time. What makes it different is that this computer does not stay online. You can only go online to download content and then it disconnects. It can’t be online and play games at the same time. It does not have the ability to open modern websites or social media platforms. It goes old school, pre-Internet days. This allows you to use the computer for games or work without distractions. The games on these classic systems were harder to play and thus less addicting; you either got tired of playing because you weren’t getting anywhere, or won the game in a matter of an hour. It is also not portable and means you have to remain at the desk rather than roaming around or playing games in bed.

Last month they released their second product. The Commodore Callback 8020, which is a flip phone with no Internet access, but still gives you things you would miss most. It is capable of running all Android apps, provides a mobile hotspot, a media player, a navigation system, a camera for both video calls and photo/video capture, but it completely blocks social media and has limited capability for games. It turns the phone back into a phone instead of a device that captures all your attention. It is a fresh break from the digital realm. My suggestion is that you limit your time online, pick up a book, play a board game, or go for a long peaceful walk. It will not be easy to break free, but the good news is, with the help of a company like Commodore, you might stand a fighting chance.

Until next time, stay safe and learn something new and I hope you will see me online at https://www.techshepherd.org.

Scott Hamilton is an Expert in Emerging Technologies at ATOS and can be reached with questions and comments via email to shamilton@techshepherd.org or through his website at https://www.techshepherd.org.