Persuasive Technology & Attention economy : Why are psychologists scared ?

Psychologists have always raised concerns, but discussions around persuasive tech have started to pick up.

Screen addiction is rampant and by design that habit is formulating in us. The Centre for Human Tech defines persuasive technology as “notifications, social cues, personalised feeds and more – to keep you coming back and monitor your behaviour”. It is by-product of “attention economy”, which uses subtle psychological cues to keep us coming back for more. We are no match for some of the sharpest minds who are engineering these technologies. The intention is simple – profile, target and profit off our time and attention to sell data to advertisers.

Persuasive technology can be harmful, if left unmonitored. It is directly responsible for teenage anxiety, depression, shorter attention spans & low cognitive control. From a neurological perspective, human brain is under development till mid-20s. The pre-frontal cortex which controls emotional regulation is one of the last areas to be fully developed. Hence, kids find it difficult to disengage from anything – screen included.

You might call it mindless scrolling, but for kids its instant pleasure. A high dopamine activity, continuously when the brain is still developing, becomes problematic. It might hard-wire the brain to that intensity of high pleasure activities, so early in life – and studies have shown that this might be equivalent to substance abuse.‼️

GenAlpha (2010-24) have grown up as the Stroller Scrollers. GenBeta (2025-40) will be born into AI – the line between reality and digital immersion is fading.

As a parent, when I look at all the exciting developments, I also get worried for creativity and mental health of our children.⚠️

Let the child sit on screen, you might tune in an educative show. Its just a passive activity of ‘watching’. But if you leave them to stare at the ceiling – maybe they look at the fan, or maybe they dive deeper into the universe transcending boundaries and dimensions. ✨ Kids are at the driving seat and imagination takes control⭐️. I prefer the latter – what do you feel?❣️