It is unlikely to imagine our society living its routines without the use of the numerous digital resources we have today, which we can highlight artificial intelligence (AI) and social networks. Whether for professional or leisure purposes, these technologies are present in various tasks of our daily lives – to which, no matter how undeniable the benefits they bring, are also impacting, negatively, the critical sense of people. A worrying effect that can lead to even greater consequences if not properly understood and addressed
Both resources are strongly present in our country. In 2024, as an example, Datareportal data identified that Brazil had 144 million active users on social media, representing 66,3% of the total population. How much the use of AI, the scenario could not be different: three out of four Brazilians use this technology at work, according to a survey conducted by Opsos and Google – considered crucial for dealing with complex information and finding innovative solutions to business challenges
Not all technology, however, presents only advantages. Even though widely used by society, the AI, as an example, presents a huge challenge for expansion regarding its energy consumption. It is estimated that it is necessary to use more than 10 times the energy for AI research compared to traditional search engines. On social media, the obstacle is regarding the dissemination and fake news, what is becoming increasingly difficult in the context of global polarization
Both in the medium and long term, there is a more concerning disadvantage in the excessive use of these resources, which may impact, severely, the focus and critical sense of people. This is because, every day, we are exposed to a flood of information (information pandemic), whose analysis and verification of this large amount becomes a great challenge without the proper guidance of secure mechanisms for it
With users' focus gradually being harmed, this critical sense becomes increasingly difficult to apply. After all, in an increasingly instant world, it is complex to set aside quality time to delve into the topic and verify whether it is correct or not. To know, in other words, "to mine" and separate the "wheat from the chaff" regarding the information received on a daily basis
Going beyond this impact on the superficiality of information, many academic studies show a correlation between the increase in anxiety and depression due to the massive use of social media, in addition to correlation with other disorders associated with the various hours connected and plugged into a screen. This is what the 2024 Mental Health Panorama showed, carried out by Instituto Cactus in partnership with AtlasIntel – which reported that 45% of anxiety cases in young people aged 15 to 29 are related to the intensive use of these platforms
In the market, the lack of this critical sense also tends to hinder innovation, to which it is created and invested, mainly, to solve the pains and problems of society. One of the great "entrances" to generate innovation is knowledge about something, however, when we do not understand this something and delegate this analysis to a technology, a lot is lost in the process, increasing the impact on the creation of new products, services, process and, consequent, in innovation
We are in a delicate scenario in reconciling, in a healthy and smart way, the use of these technologies in our daily lives, without affecting our critical sense and triggering severe impacts for the population and the entire market. AND, regarding companies, the best way to avoid or mitigate these problems is to use governance models aimed at analyzing each of these points and providing more precise guidance on how to make the best use of these resources
One of the models that has been standing out in this regard is the ISO Innovation, newly published methodology that aims to analyze all market opportunities and threats and technologies to generate innovation within organizations. She provides the best guidelines to be followed by each company, in order to achieve their goals and aspirations of competitive prominence
There is no way to eliminate AI or social media from our routines, which requires a high responsibility in handling them with intelligence, so that they are beneficial allies instead of harmful technologies to the critical sense of the population. With this discernment and the support of robust methodologies in this regard, we will have highly effective solutions for our tasks
Alexander Pierrois a master in management and engineering of innovation, bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, nuclear physics and management specialist of PALAS, pioneering consultancy in innovation ISO in Latin America
