Loneliness in the age of AI
Loneliness is becoming one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century—even though we’ve never been this “connected” before. The rise of AI and apps that promise closeness forces us to ask a tough question: does technology ease the problem, or does it actually make it worse?
“– It’s a little lonely in the desert… – It is lonely when you’re among people, too, said the snake.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Back in the 1990s, people in Japan started talking about a new phenomenon called hikikomori, which you could translate as “going inside and not going outside” (引きこもり). Back then, tech was just in the background, but today it plays a central role in similar trends. And today’s forms of isolation—from social media addiction to spending time in virtual reality—have gone global.
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