A Prosthesis for the Mind

AI will replace parts of the human mind that are not as highly functioning.

Reviewed by Kaja Perina

Key points

• A prosthesis is a device designed to replace a missing part of the body or to make the body work better.
• Distraction, especially with screens, has escalated to become a recognized addiction.
• Becoming so automatic in our responses over time, may reinforce our lack of awareness more and more.
• There is no off button for someone entrenched in continuous partial attention.

“We have focused on managing our time. Our opportunity is to focus how we manage our attention.” —Linda Stone

Have you noticed how difficult it is to give anything or anyone your full attention? Giving and receiving one’s full attention is an affirmation of our self-worth.

When our attention is compromised, our ability to reflect is absent. We are in reflex mode. We are not fully present. Instead, we are choosing to respond to a multitude of distractions, which create a divided attention. In modern life these distractions are everywhere.

Continuous Partial Attention

Linda Stone coined the term continuous partial attention (CPA) in 1998 when she was working for Apple. Stone also suggested technology may become a prosthesis for the mind leading to burn-out, poor health, poor sleep, and what she calls email or screen apnea.

So, what is CPA?

According to Stone, “CPA is an automatic process motivated only by ‘a desire to be a live node on the network’ or by the willingness to connect and stay connected, scanning and optimizing opportunities, activities and contacts in an effort to not miss anything that is going on.” (1)

While multitasking is seen as a desire to be more productive and efficient, CPA is more about a divided attention automatically and compulsively driven by a fear of missing out.

CPA is always on. There is no off button for someone entrenched in CPA. What are the long-term implications of a population captive to CPA?

“For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.” —Margaret Heffernan

AI: A Prosthetic Mind

A prosthesis is a device designed to replace a missing part of the body or to make a part of the body work better. AI, artificial intelligence, could be thought of as a prosthesis of the mind.

AI is purported to replace parts of the human mind that are not as highly functioning as technology. AI is faster and more comprehensive. Is that enough? Is replacing a mind as simple as replacing a body part?

AI can help humankind by cleaning up a nuclear accident. AI can program our machines. AI can even assist humans in thinking through complex problems in a complex world. However, maybe AI needs a hands-off human approach to be most viable to humans.

The time to incorporate knowledge about the social impacts of technology on society is in the pre-implementation phase, not post-implementation. The history of technology to date is all about: “Because we can, we should.” Social scientists will be expected to be part of the clean-up for the techno-bias that pushed society into this place too early.

Interestingly, social scientists are believed to be necessary after the implementation of technology and not in its planning phases. This sounds very familiar. Isn’t this the same situation we find ourselves in with mobile phones and other screen devices in the hands of two-year-olds now? And over time, what we have learned is that it's creating a population that is more distracted, compulsive, lonely, depressed, and anxious.

Creating the flesh of technology, machines, is the easy part. Alongside such efforts, designers and researchers from a range of disciplines need to conduct what we call a social-systems analysis of AI. They need to assess the impact of technologies on their social, cultural, and political settings. (6) We need to qualify and quantify the spirit of AI. How will AI affect the spirit of being human in a world that relies on superhuman machines? Will the human psyche adapt, as the engineers suggest? Or is there some aspect of human adaptability the engineers have not considered? We need that information before, not after.

King (2) defined nomophobia as “a disorder of the modern world and has only recently been used to describe the discomfort or anxiety caused by the non-availability of any other virtual communication device in individuals who use them habitually.”

Distraction-Addiction

Another challenge confronting our technological boom has been distraction. Distraction, especially with screens, has escalated to become a recognized addiction. The availability of distraction through screen technology is pervasive at work and at home.

The concept of distraction-addiction appears to be labile and habitual. Both distraction and addiction are extremely reactive and reflexive in nature. Internal and external triggers have the potential to ignite reactions of behaviour that are not reflective and thoughtful. Our mindfulness potential becomes increasingly absent. (4)

Reflexive behaviour negates reflective behaviour and can become more automatic. We may become so automatic in our responses that over time we may start to reinforce our lack of awareness more and more. Isn’t this what happens with both distraction and addiction? We don’t have these tendencies, they have us!

Impacts of CPA

Correlations have been observed between high levels of anxiety and depression and continuous partial attention. (5) Significantly, the negative impact of continuous partial attention has been identified in all educational settings. Microsoft recently reported that our attention spans have dropped from 12 seconds in the early 2000’s to currently around 8 seconds, which is believed to be less than a goldfish.

When we are less attentive and more reflexive what happens to our productivity. Obviously, absent reflection, we may be more prone to making mistakes since there is less time to assimilate important information.

Also, how can we be sure we are getting all the necessary information? Does any of this sound familiar?

When talking to people who may be distracted or not attending, have you noticed that they are not responding the way you might have expected. Customer service personnel and helping professionals require superior skills in attending to be successful at their work. Have you noticed any changes in people you are communicating with and their ability to attend to your message?

Continuous Partial Attention is about always being online and a fear of missing out. Any strategy that would allow you to be offline more is a good CPA preventative strategy.

Doing something physical takes you out of the loop at least momentarily. Playing a game that is offline and not online gives you some respite time. Being socially interactive face-to-face without screens could also help. Getting back to nature could be very therapeutic. Having breaks from your normal technology usage for even an hour might help. Maybe even a screen free day on occasion would be beneficial.

Ultimately, an increased awareness of the problematic nature of continuous partial attention may be the best hope for prevention. Having the mindfulness to realize when you are lacking mindfulness sounds hard but vastly superior to relying on a prosthesis for your mind.