Are You Addicted to AI?
- S B
- Sep 19
- 6 min read
When does AI adoption become AI addiction?
New research from OpenAI recently confirmed what many of us have long suspected: AI has become personal. It's no longer just a productivity tool. It's not simply augmenting work.
It has become a companion. A thinking partner. An extension of the mind.
And in that shift lies a word we might not be ready to use: dependency.
While some of these are simple algorithms and others are complex generative models, they all contribute to a single effect: our growing dependency on automated systems to navigate our lives.
So, when does AI adoption become dependency? When does adoption cross into addiction? When do we stop being consumers and start becoming dependents?
What is Addiction?
Addiction is typically defined as a compulsive pattern of behavior that continues despite negative consequences.
Although dependence on AI is not recognized as a clinical diagnosis, the patterns of use closely resemble those found in established forms of addiction.
Substance addiction occurs when use becomes frequent and impairs functioning, while behavioral addiction involves compulsive behaviors like gambling, shopping, and social media that trigger the same dopamine cycles as substances.
The common thread across these examples:
Compulsion (feeling the urge to use or engage, even when not needed).
Loss of control (difficulty cutting back or stopping).
Consequences (negative impact on work, relationships, or health).
So how do we classify AI use?
Is it adoption when we use AI to write a draft more quickly, or addiction when we can't start without consulting it?
Is it augmentation when AI helps us brainstorm, or dependency when we trust it more than our own judgment?
Is it just a tool, or does it meet the criteria of an emerging behavioral addiction?
How Soon Do You Use AI When You Wake Up?
Does Alexa or Siri wake you up in the morning?
Does your Apple Watch or Fitbit greet you with sleep data in the morning?
Does a smart device, powered by AI, brew your first cup before you even get out of bed?
Is AI delivering your morning news?
Most important: can you begin your day without an AI interaction?
The symptom of addiction you're displaying: compulsion.
Can You Still Write Without AI?
When you post on social media, do you first check with your 'AI friends' about what to write and how to say it?
Do you allow them to "polish" your words?
Earlier this year I conducted a small experiment, in which I asked three major AI tools to proofread two sentences. One tool completely rewrote my words. Another made only the grammatical changes. The third wrote multiple "polished versions". In that moment I realized that AI can be a threat to developing voices. Children shouldn't be encouraged to use it as a writing companion, because it might prevent them from developing a personal writing style.
How about work emails? Is Copilot writing those for you?
Can you still open up Microsoft Word and draft an article without AI assistance?
When I started writing on LinkedIn I received a lot of positive feedback. I am grateful. I still draft messy, imperfect articles. When I use AI to assist, I insist it "put my words back." Some articles take me three hours to finish. It is not efficient, but I do not want to lose my voice. I want to still exist as me in an AI enabled world.
The symptom of addiction you may be displaying: loss of control.
What Happens When AI Gets It Wrong?
When I was a kid people still used paper maps. I remember a family trip to Orlando. My mom sat in the front with the map, my dad drove, and we kids were in the back. At one point we drove more than an hour in the wrong direction. No one fussed. We stopped, ate something, and then got back on track.
Today most people rely on GPS and traffic apps like Waze. Many cannot find their way around their own neighborhoods without them. What startles me is this: when the GPS or traffic app makes a mistake, people get angry. They yell at a machine. For what exactly?
Dependency. Loss of navigation skills. Frustration and anger. These are consequences we accept without much thought. All of them mirror the fallout of addiction.
Can your children navigate themselves to or from school? If they are habitual car riders and glued to tablets, probably not. Do you find you cannot get to the post office without Waze?
With paper maps we tried. Now we surrender.
The symptom of addiction you may be displaying: consequences.
Quantifying the Loss
The loss of a single skill like navigation is just one piece of a much larger puzzle of what we're surrendering. It is easy to dismiss these changes as the cost of modern living or to say this is just technology. But in reality, modern AI systems have amplified our dependency.
Agentic AI systems can order a Friday night pizza without any involvement from me. What once required getting in a car, going to a store, interacting with another person, and dining in community has become an AI task. Automation leads to loss of community.
Streaming has the same effect. The shared experience of watching a film together is eroding. Will my child experience the communal sorrow in the theater of watching young Simba lose his father Mufasa in The Lion King, or the sheer horror and shock when Henry Cavill's Superman dies on the big screen? Probably not. Convenience leads to loss of shared experience.
The internet gave us chatrooms and social media gave us platforms to build relationships. Now conversational AI can undo that. AI becomes a private companion in one-on-one conversations. By offering AI companionship in the form of bots, social medial platforms risk replacing community with isolation. Isolation leads to loss of connection.
AI adoption can become addiction and lead to loss.
The Road to Recovery
Turn it off.
Compulsion
Get an alarm clock. Yes, they still make them. Loud, simple, and annoying. I picked one up at IKEA a couple of years ago and I love it. My daughter was five at the time and fascinated that an alarm clock could exist outside a phone or tablet.
You can keep your Fitbit or Apple Watch, but set aside specific times in the day to check the data. There is no need to reach for AI the moment you wake up.
You can keep the coffee machine too. But pick one or two days each week to brew it yourself. On those mornings, sit down, sip slowly, and watch the news without letting AI guide the start of your day.
Loss of Control
Write your own social media posts. Keep the run-on sentences and fragments intact. That is how we speak.
Let AI assist your writing. But insist on preserving your voice. Use prompts like: "preserve my voice," "use my words," "only fix grammar," "suggest improvements but do not replace anything without my permission."
Drafting a cover letter or a note to your child's teacher? Open Word and write it yourself. Finish the draft. Then use the constraints above to refine without overpolishing.
Next Monday at work, write one email yourself. Start with a message to your teammates. Decide which emails you will always write and which you will outsource. If you manage others, remember that an authentic voice can be felt by your team.
Consequences
This weekend try going to the park or store without the GPS.
Order a pizza and pick it up yourself.
Invite friends and family over and watch a film together. You do not have to go to a movie theater to create a shared viewing experience. Create a new profile on your favorite streaming service that bypasses personalized recommendations, so you can see what is actually available to watch.
These small acts restore agency, slow the rush of convenience, and rebuild the social rituals we are losing.
From Dependents to Intentional Users
AI companions are an attempt to fill real gaps in human connection. But here's a simple idea: if you commute, find a morning program on a radio station and tune in. You might discover that someone else at work listens to the same show. It's a great way to start an ice breaker.
Years ago when many of us started using Spotify and curated playlists, I recognized the loss. The shared ritual of radio was traded for individualized listening. Personalization has its benefits. Sometimes we need solace. Other times we need connection.
As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, we must choose how we let it enter our lives. We can be dependents or intentional users.
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"AI is the tool, but the vision is human." — Sophia B.
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About the Author
Sophia Banton works at the intersection of AI strategy, communication, and human impact. With a background in bioinformatics, public health, and data science, she brings a grounded, cross-disciplinary perspective to the adoption of emerging technologies.
Beyond technical applications, she explores GenAI’s creative potential through storytelling and short-form video, using experimentation to understand how generative models are reshaping narrative, communication, and visual expression.
