Social media can create dependency. As we use artificial intelligence (AI) more in our daily lives, could it become our next digital dependency?

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini are powerful. Need to write an email, solve a coding problem, compose music, or generate artwork? AI delivers on demand. This ease feels almost magical. You cast a spell, and there it is.

Unlike social media dependency, AI dependence is sneaky. AI produces text, code, presentations, and analyses. It saves time. It boosts confidence. It makes us feel more innovative.

But AI is not a calculator, a spell-checker, a GPS, or a search engine; all of these offload specific cognitive functions. Generative AI is unprecedented in its ability to offload cognitive tasks.

I suspect it could lead to dependence because generative AI outputs are probabilistic and occasionally surprising. This unpredictability, the gap between what we expect and what we receive, creates variable rewards similar to those in gambling, a mechanism known to maximize engagement. Second, conversational interfaces used in Chatbots encourage anthropomorphism. We tend to attribute human qualities to such systems and even trust systems that use social cues. The line between human and machine was never thinner.

We are at a crossroads. Do we want to outsource our thinking entirely, or amplify our own cognitive work? The stakes are high. It is about preserving expertise, critical thinking, and human agency in an increasingly automated world.