Stakeholders at the King Abdulaziz Centre for Digital Wellbeing Summit in Saudi Arabia have stressed the importance of regulating technology before its negative impact results in the next major pandemic.
The summit shared some statistics compiled over that of last year, showing that 53 percent of people claimed that, when given the choice, they would rather live without a close friend than their phones.
The summit, which had 13,000 attendees, was themed “Confronting the Digital Paradox,” aiming to consider “whether we have the power and intention to ensure that the future of technology serves us, rather than us serving it.”
The Summit Lead, Mr. Fahad AlBeyahi, said the basis of the new Digital Wellbeing Global Report is a survey of 35,000 respondents, all over 18 years of age, from 35 nations across five continents, including six countries from Africa, Nigeria included.
The summit also focused on cyberbullying, featuring an emotional narration from Kristen Bride, who lost her son to suicide due to excessive trolling he faced on Snapchat almost four years ago.
After the incident, Bride became a social media reform advocate, working tirelessly to save the lives of others.
The summit featured an illustrious program with over 70 speakers – industry professionals, academics, scientists, healthcare providers, government officials, and innovation experts – from around the world.
Notable speakers included Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Wired magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly, renowned Portuguese football manager José Mourinho, and AI data scientist Rumman Chowdhury.
The speakers and panels took a largely optimistic view of the opportunities for progress if the global digital community is ethically cautious and well-informed about how we employ, regulate, and interact with the expanding role of digital technology in our lives.
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Ayisha Piotti, an AI expert and speaker at the summit, said she entered the AI sector “Because of the excessive concern she has over what would happen to the planet next and how technology will impact her children’s lives. As a parent, we have two choices: either let it all happen or decide to play a role in shaping that future for our children.”
Other topics at the summit on digital culture included addiction to social media, cyberbullying, increasing isolation, and the effects on mental health by the ever-more effective online platform-driven attention industry. Conversations also centred around harm reduction by focusing on education, physical and mental health, and decreasing the impact of bad actors on the lives of the online innocent.
One of the major findings in the survey was about the design of social media platforms – 73% of respondents believed they are designed to be addictive, 52% are concerned about their health because of social media, and 53% say their use of technology over the last year is positive, improving their performance and awareness.
Furthermore, 62% of the respondents believe they spend the right amount of time on social media, “which is a mindful decision.”
Additionally, 33% of respondents say they have started exercising control by removing apps or turning off notifications.
Another significant part of the survey was about online gaming, where 77% of those surveyed are addicted to games, and 60% use mobile devices for gaming due to their flexibility.
“Sync will create awareness in African communities so that, before the pandemic of negative impacts from excessive use of digital platforms hits them hard like other continents, they can be well prepared for the upcoming worst scenarios,” said Ithra’s AlBeyahi.
The centre aims to raise awareness and organize the all-Africa Digital Well-Being Summit, where the continent’s stakeholders, policymakers, and governments will be invited to discuss the impact of digital technologies, especially on wellness and safety.
