How AI is Profiting from Our Attention and Reshaping Childhood Ft. Ava Smithing w/Anita Nowak - Purposeful Empathy

AI is impacting every part of our lives—and we need to start paying more attention.Watch this urgent and deeply personal conversation with youth advocate Ava Smithing, host of the podcast Left to Their Own Devices, whose work sits at the intersection of social media, online safety, youth mental health and digital well-being.We discuss:What parents, educators and policy-makers need to understand about AI chatbots, social media, and online safetyHow social media platforms profit by exploiting young people’s insecurities, attention, and personal dataHow AI companions may weaken children’s resilience, relationships, and connection with their parentsWhy the attention economy threatens not only our mental health—but our privacy, agency, and empathyIf you care about protecting children’s mental health, cognitive agency and relationships in an online world increasingly shaped by AI—you don’t want to miss this conversation.00:00 Preview00:52 Episode introduction02:49 About Ava Smithing06:02 Ava’s backstory07:09 How social media algorithms pushed Ava into a near-fatal eating disorder at age 1213:41 How young people can resist social media pressure and reclaim their identities17:28 Why a social media break/detox can improve happiness and well-being22:54 What is the “Attention Economy” — and why is it harmful?27:19 Why AI chatbots may be dangerous for children's development31:48 What happens when children trust AI more than their parents?34:17 What lawmakers misunderstand about protecting children online38:50 Ava’s reflection on testifying to Congress44:40 Why big tech’s power is becoming a threat to democracy48:25 The Attention Sphere: Ava’s non-profit organization, committed to designing tech that strengthens real-world community50:42 Why banning children from social media may not solve the problem54:17 Why data privacy and antitrust laws are essential for online safety57:07 How growing up online is affecting Gen Z’s capacity for empathy01:01:54  Ava Smithing’s Purposeful Empathy storyEpisode #2 of Empathy in the Age of AI part II, a special 25-part series: https://tinyurl.com/exyw2nua CONNECT WITH AVA✩ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ava-smithing-8485931b4/ ✩ Website https://theattentionstudio.com ✩ Podcast https://www.mediatechdemocracy.com/podcasts-left-to-their-own-devices CONNECT WITH ANITA✩ Email [email protected] ✩ Website https://www.anitanowak.com✩ Buy a copy of Purposeful Empathy http://tiny.cc/PurposefulEmpathyCA✩ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitanowak/✩ Instagram https://tinyurl.com/anitanowakinstagram✩ Podcast Audio https://tinyurl.com/PurposefulEmpathyPodcast✩ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/anitanowak.bsky.socialSHOW NOTES✩ Ava’s Testimonial before the U.S. Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJewHYRUKjE✩ Ava’s Testimonial before the U.S. Congress https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/117146/witnesses/HHRG-118-IF17-Wstate-SmithingA-20240417.pdf✩ Op-Ed: Social media nearly ruined my life. This is how I saved myself — and how we save kids today https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/social-media-nearly-ruined-my-life-this-is-how-i-saved-myself-and-how-we/article_f97fd1ea-53f3-420c-b276-9bcd7fc153ad.htmlVideo edited by Jad Misri, Green Horizon Studio