first they give it to us for free..

 first they give it to us for free... then they sell us the addiction

Remember when things were free?

Or at least when they appeared to be?

First came the internet. Then social media. Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube and countless other platforms invited us in. They were exciting, convenient, entertaining and, most importantly, FREE.

We signed up. We shared our photographs, our thoughts, our artwork, our personal stories and pieces of our lives.

We built communities, friendships, businesses and entire creative worlds around these platforms.

Then things started changing.

More advertising. More algorithms. More notifications. More pressure to engage, click, watch, buy and keep scrolling.

What started as a useful tool gradually became something we couldn't imagine living without.

And now, here we are, watching another chapter unfold.

I recently received an email from OpenAI promoting ChatGPT Ads Manager. Businesses are being encouraged to pay to advertise inside ChatGPT, using the platform to reach people while they're researching products and deciding what to buy.

Well, that didn't take long.

First, we invite you in. Then we build the habit. Then we monetize the attention.

It's becoming a familiar business model.

the digital drug

I sometimes think these platforms operate a little like drugs.

Not necessarily chemical drugs, but behavioural ones.

They give us little rewards: a notification, a like, a comment, a new follower, a bit of attention. We return for another hit.

Some people spend hours scrolling. Others feel anxious when they disconnect. Some experience genuine withdrawal when they try to leave.

And the companies know that keeping our attention is profitable.

We are encouraged to believe we're making independent choices, but how independent are those choices when entire industries are designed to influence our behaviour?

a modern form of colonization

Perhaps we've been colonized in ways we haven't fully recognized.

Not necessarily through armies or borders, but through our attention, our habits, our data, our culture and our dependence on systems controlled by a handful of powerful corporations.

We've been conditioned to accept convenience over privacy, consumption over creativity and engagement over genuine human connection.

We have become accustomed to being watched, measured, marketed to and manipulated.

And the troubling part is that many of us don't even see it anymore.

We have normalized things that would have seemed extraordinary a generation ago.

when do we say enough?

I'm not suggesting we can simply turn back the clock. Technology has brought enormous benefits, and I use it too.

But there is a difference between using technology and allowing technology to use us.

There is a difference between a helpful service and a system that continually finds new ways to extract money, attention and personal information from its users.

And there is a difference between innovation and progress.

I worry that humanity is becoming so consumed by convenience, consumption, competition and corporate profit that we're losing sight of what actually matters.

Our environment is suffering. Inequality is growing. Human connection is changing. We are creating increasingly powerful technologies without necessarily understanding the long-term consequences.

I don't know whether this path will lead to human extinction, but I do believe we are putting our future at risk.

Perhaps the downfall of humanity won't arrive as one dramatic event. Perhaps it will happen through thousands of little compromises that we barely notice until we've gone too far.

First they give it to us for free.

Then they make it indispensable.

Then they sell our attention back to us.

And eventually, we wonder how we got here.

Maybe it's time to stop asking what technology can do for us and start asking what it's doing to us.

#FightBackWithArt #WarriorUpWithArt