Digital life is a concept that encompasses the set of activities and experiences we have as individuals, as human beings in digital environments. It not only includes online shopping behaviour, social media or general use of technology, but also considers the impact it has on our personal, social and economic relationships.
How has this concept evolved in recent years?
The word that defines it is sophistication and its increasing spread to more and more aspects of our lives, to such an extent that for many, physical and online life are a complete continuum. I start a series of activities in one space and finish them in another. This would be its superpower, as digitalisation allows us to virtualise ourselves and achieve or accelerate activities that we would not have imagined a few years ago. Isn’t that fascinating?
What have been the main changes?
COVID has left its mark on us because we are becoming less naive. There is a widespread critical spirit towards social media and misinformation. But we still have a long way to go, as there are completely toxic or highly addictive forms of “digital consumption”. We are now fully aware of the positive and negative power of “algorithms”.
And consumption in terms of hours spent in front of screens or mobile phones has stabilised, perhaps also because we don’t have any more hours in the day. Categories such as banking, commerce and education are now completely assimilated as common uses in digital format.
But given my profile as a techno-optimist, I believe that the benefits have been enormous so far. And along the way, we have learned to be sensitive to the digital divide.
How will digital life change in the future?
Here we have a critical driver, which is the incorporation of generative AI. And it is a big unknown; we do not know its influence on our future behaviour. We are living in a moment as intense as the arrival of smartphones or broadband. How will it affect us? We do not know!
If we analyse it carefully, we see that we are using a product (GPTs) without knowing the dangers it entails. They are essentially a beta product that we are ‘testing’ on a massive scale: would you let your child talk to a stranger alone?
Well, it’s a bit like that. How much of your privacy would you give away knowing that LLMs are controlled by a select few? We’ve already been through this with social media; we know the disasters they cause and I hope they are not repeated. The bad guys are out there and they are advanced users of these tools.
We hear terrible news about the loss of control over our data, or how we could be hijacked by ‘personal’ agents who no longer accompany or improve us, but hijack us with complete delegation of our decisions.
I believe we must take decisive steps, but never in a reckless manner: generative AI is an incredible tool and we must explore it rigorously (and with curiosity) to capture its positive aspects. This is part of what algorithm regulation seeks to achieve (in line with the AI Act), but it also requires an educated personal attitude.
Which sectors of the population will be most affected by the changes that will occur in the medium/long term?
I am particularly concerned about young people because they are the foundation of the society of the future. The term ‘digital native’ no longer applies. No one assumes anymore that just because you have a mobile phone in your hands, you are wiser or that you develop a ‘special’ or ‘differential’ skill. We are realising that almost the opposite is true if we do not exercise parental control and education in this regard.
We are seeing more and more movements seeking to supervise screen time, but more is needed: a profound change in classrooms and among other stakeholders. Our attention is hijacked (to paraphrase philosopher Byung-Chul Han, winner of the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities), and perhaps I am less affected because I come from a world where there were no mobile phones. But young people need to understand and practise disconnection. This is urgent.
How can digital life be organised?
I love this question. There is still a lot of education needed (as I said before, and I think this is the critical point) when it comes to understanding how to protect our identity, our data and take responsibility for our consumption. This is regardless of our age. It applies to everyone. Adults are the first ones who have to be responsible and apply digital organisation tools. And organising oneself in digital life involves, above all, critical thinking.
Will digital life become indistinguishable from physical life?
Fortunately, I doubt it (at least in the short term). The metaverse as it was defined a couple of years ago has not been successful. Highly immersive devices (glasses) are impractical and very expensive.
Of course, we will see new waves of ‘ultra-attractive’ AI-enabled devices that will allow for the development of alternative interfaces, but I believe that this will always be within the physical reality. The key experience will be to ‘reconcile’ both worlds. In this balance lies our happiness and the greatest benefit from the increased potential that digital technology provides us.
The word that defines it is sophistication and its increasing spread to more and more aspects of our lives, so that for many, physical and online life is a complete continuum[MO1]. I start a series of activities in one space and finish them in the other. This would be its superpower, as digitalisation allows us to virtualise ourselves and achieve or accelerate activities that we could not have imagined a few years ago. Isn’t that fascinating?
What have been the main changes?
Covid has left its mark on us because we are becoming less and less naive. There is a widespread critical spirit towards social media and misinformation. But we still have a long way to learn, as there are completely toxic or highly addictive forms of ‘digital consumption’. We are now fully aware of the positive and negative power of the ‘algorithm’.
And consumption in terms of hours spent in front of screens or mobile phones has stabilised, perhaps also because we don’t have any more hours in the day. Categories such as banking, commerce and education are now fully assimilated as common uses in digital format.
But given my technical background, I am a techno-optimist and I believe that the benefits have been enormous so far. And along the way, we have learned to be sensitive to the digital divide.
How will digital life change in the future?
Here we have a critical driver, which is the incorporation of generative AI. And it is a big unknown; we do not know its influence on our future behaviour. We are experiencing a moment as intense as the arrival of smartphones or broadband. How will it affect us? We don’t know!
If we analyse it carefully, we see that we are using a product (GPTs) without knowing the dangers it entails. It is essentially a product in Beta that we are ‘testing’ on a massive scale: would you let your child talk to a stranger alone?
Well, it’s a bit like that. How much of your privacy would you give up knowing that LLMs[MO2] are controlled by a few? It already happened to us with social media, we know the disasters they cause, so I hope they don’t happen again. The bad guys are out there and they are advanced users of these tools.
We hear terrible news about the loss of control over our data, or how we could be hijacked by ‘personal’ agents, who no longer accompany or improve us, but hijack us with complete delegation of our decisions.
I believe we must take decisive steps, but never in a reckless manner: generative AI is an incredible tool and we must explore it rigorously (and with curiosity) to capture its positive aspects. This is part of what algorithm regulation seeks to achieve (in line with the AI Act), but it also requires a polite personal attitude.
Which sectors of the population will be most affected by the changes that will take place in the medium/long term?
I am particularly concerned about young people because they are the foundation of the society of the future. The term ‘digital native’ no longer applies. No one assumes anymore that just because you have a mobile phone in your hands, you are wiser or that you develop a ‘special’ or ‘differential’ skill. We are realising that almost the opposite is true if we do not exercise parental control and education in this regard.
We are seeing more and more movements seeking to supervise screen time, but more is needed: a profound change in classrooms and among other stakeholders. Our attention is hijacked (to paraphrase philosopher Byung-Chul Han, winner of the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities), and perhaps I am less affected because I come from a world where there were no mobile phones. But young people need to understand and practise disconnection. This is urgent.
How can digital life be organised?
I love this question. There is still a lot of education needed (as I said before, and I think this is the critical point) when it comes to understanding how to protect our identity, our data and take responsibility for our consumption. This is regardless of our age. It applies to everyone. Adults are the first ones who have to be responsible and apply digital organisation tools. And organising oneself in digital life involves, above all, critical thinking.
Will digital life become indistinguishable from physical life?
Fortunately, I doubt it (at least in the short term). The metaverse as it was defined a couple of years ago has not been successful. Highly immersive devices (glasses) are impractical and very expensive.
Of course, we will see new waves of ‘ultra-attractive’ AI-enabled devices that will allow for the development of alternative interfaces, but I believe that this will always be within the physical reality. The key experience will be to ‘reconcile’ both worlds. In this balance lies our happiness and the greatest benefit from the increased potential that digital technology provides us.
