Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 30
Posts 21 - 30

Esta notificación te está robando un pedazo de vida

(This notification is stealing a piece of life from you)

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 5.5.2017
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | addiction, artificial intelligence, brain, smartphone, threat
Summary | Elon Musk said that in eight or ten years our brains will be perfectly connected to artificial intelligence. Facebook also announced that they want us to be able to write directly from our brain, with a "thought reader" helmet that would be ready in two years. We live in a world where people are not able to concentrate because of the noise our smartphones make when we receive notifications. Sherry Turkle claims that smartphones are not simple accessories; they are powerful devices that change not only what you do, but also who you are. Some people are worried about what the internet and artificial intelligence will bring in the future.
Image Description | Video about nomophobia
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Esta es la tecnología que matará a tu ‘smartphone’

(This is the technology that will kill your smartphone)

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Newspaper | El País
Date | 25.5.2017
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, brain, smartphone, threat, virtual reality
Summary | According to some experts, augmented reality is threatening the future of mobile phones, and soon smartphones will disappear. Facebook is interesting in creating a parallel universe. In April, at a conference, Facebook talked about the possibility of writing directly from the brain. Virtual reality is the future, and it will offer information in an non-intrusive way. Experts point out, however, that the great challenge of such a technology is its high cost.
Image Description | Video about augmented reality

Mattel lance une intelligence artificielle pour veiller sur les enfants

(Mattel launches an artificial intelligence tool to watch over children)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 5.1.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, childhood, privacy, smartphone
Summary | Mattel presented its new AI assistant to be used in children's bedrooms. The assistant (Aristotle) goes off if a child is crying in the middle of the night, for instance. Then, parents receive a notification on their smartphone. Aristotle is supposed to understand toddlers' language and to develop/evolve with them. The assistant can talk to toddlers and play music.
Image Description | N/A

Experten verraten: Diese Apps müssen dringend auf Ihr Smartphone

(Experts reveal: these apps need to be on your smartphone)

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Newspaper | Focus Online
Date | 5.3.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | privacy, smartphone, WhatsApp
Summary | It is difficult to avoid WhatsApp because virtually everyone is using it. The app profits from allowing you to reach everyone. There have however been privacy issues in the past. Safer options are the free app Signal (even recommended by Edward Snowden) or Threema. Other must-have apps are sophisticated password organizing apps, clean-up apps that optimize one's storage as well as good web browsers.
Image Description | Image of a boy holding a smartphone while laying on a sofa.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

The five lessons I learned from breaking my smartphone

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 24.1.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | brain, research/study, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | After dropping her smartphone in the sink, the author lives without one for six weeks and discovers that she sleeps better without a smartphone, enjoys being unavailable, few things need to be tended to urgently, that she spends less money, and her memory suffers from having a smartphone. Studies have also confirmed that it is detrimental to one's sleep pattern to sleep next to a smartphone because notifications release dopamin in the brain similarly to a nicotine or recreational drug addiction. She values the time she now has to just not be available for messages from work because we tend to respond to any and all messages as if they were urgent when really they are not. The author reports to spend less money because she can no longer do online shopping on the go without a smartphone. She has also realized how dependent on Google she has become. Neurological studies confirm that our brains are adapting to the constant accessibility of all information by remembering how to find it and googling again if necessary rather than remembering the little snippets of information.
Image Description | Getty image of a woman's hands holding a smartphone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone

'La web conecta y a la vez separa'

('The Web connects and disconnects at the same time')

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Newspaper | El Mundo
Date | 30.4.2014
Language | Spanish
Country | Spain
Topic Tags | (mental) health, addiction, brain, research/study, smartphone, texting
Summary | Two experts debate about digital technologies and their impact on our lives. The internet is changing our society; some people think that it is making us more stupid and less connected, and some disagree. Both experts talk about the benefits of internet (e.g. collective intelligence, medical information online) and the risks (e.g. lack of privacy, digital divide). They both disagree with people such as Nicholas Carr who think internet is making us dumb and superficial. Hey may be exaggerating, but one expert agrees with the fact that people don't pay as much attention to what they're doing because they're always on their screens. They may be losing a few skills (e.g. reading texts with full attention, and having deep conversations). Internet and new technologies are changing our brain; for instance, they have an impact on memory. We don't have to remember as many things as before. Both experts also talk about the future of paper and books, and relationships.
Image Description | Video of the interview with the experts.
Image Tags | male(s)

The end of reflection

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 12.6.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | addiction, brain, smartphone, threat
Summary | Because virtually everyone carries a smartphone with them all day, all previously unfilled down-time is now filled with looking at notifications, text-messaging, browsing social media, etc. These little periods of unoccupation were important for self-reflection and introspection rather than tweeting every mundane thought. Our brains are capable of changing according to our media use and we are unaware of just how intensively we use digital media.
Image Description | Illustration of the “Thinker”-Statue looking at a smartphone and illustration of a landscape with people chasing after smartphones.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

Des camps de désintox pour pour accros au smartphone

(Rehab camps for smartphone addicts)

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Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 12.3.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, brain, childhood, smartphone, technology-free, youth
Summary | South Korea is one of the most digitally connected countries. As a consequence, 1 out of 10 children is addicted to internet and other digital devices. Rehab camps for young internet addicts is supposed to help children live without digital devices. In those camps, children go hiking, play guitar, and read paper books. Rehab can be tough; it is almost the same process as for alcoholics or drug addicts. At the end of the camp, those young people know how to appreciate real life and have to find out what the causes of their escape to the virtual world are.
Image Description | Photograph of young people in South Korea playing video games in a room full of computers.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, game, male(s)

Bis das Handy uns scheidet

(Till the cell phone do us part)

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Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 14.12.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | privacy, smartphone
Summary | Smartphones have opened up a variety of possibilities to cheat on one’s partner – physically as well as emotionally. Apps like Ashley Madison can connect people who would like to step outside their relationship. Sending flirtatious messages or nude images can feel like betraying one’s partner. Although smartphones make it easier for people to cheat anytime and anywhere, they also help people getting caught since online activities leave a digital trail. There are some apps that allow people to hide their digital activities and other apps that allow them to spy on digital activities.
Image Description | Illustration of Adam and Eve on their digital devices (smartphone and laptop).
Image Tags | computer/laptop, smartphone

Gemeinsam einsam: Wir können das Rad nicht zurückdrehen

(Together alone: We can’t turn the clock back)

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Newspaper | Beobachter
Date | 1.4.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | addiction, brain, smartphone, technology-free
Summary | ETH Neuroscientist Arko Ghosh has found out that smartphone use increases the size of the sensory/motoric front cortex of the brain. While many news media have reported his findings, few deeply engaged with his study. They rather just wanted to know from him whether that meant that smartphones were good or bad for the brain. One hotel in the Bernese Alps even advertises their location as particularly attractive because there is no cell phone reception or internet connection. Multiple apps to keep track of one’s smartphone use already exist.
Image Description | A group of four young people are staring at their phones.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone

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