As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more and more prevalent and quickly growing to be a norm in daily life, I find more and more of my clients are experiencing a lower self-esteem and confidence along with an increase in anxiety and depression. In a world where social media is the main source of news and connection with others, I want to take a dive into what this means for our mental health.
Don't get me wrong, in some situations, AI can be helpful. I love that I can add my groceries to a list in my phone simply by talking and having it organized by categories or autocorrecting when I use the swipe texting feature (most of the time it gets it right!). AI can analyze data without emotional bias, reduce human error, and complete some tasks more efficiently. Most people would agree AI can be beneficial in specific situations. This type of AI is not what this blog is about-this blog is about how AI is taking social media by storm and creating a false picture of what we "should" be doing with our lives, how we "should" be living", what we "should" look like.
Prior to the current use of AI in social media, people have been comparing themselves to others (this is true even before social media existed-social media has only exacerbated this). We all see the posts and stories of people sharing their morning routines of having tea on the porch overlooking the mountains meditating or the picture of someone who has perfectly flawless skin and the bluest eyes or the posts that show nature landscapes with unbelievable vibrant colors (I get a lot of those being a nature junkie). I guarantee you this is not the reality. Are there people and places that this occurs sometimes? Sure, but is the norm and reality? I don't think so. This creates an illusion there is something "wrong" or "bad" about us that we can't or do live up to this. This is where I have a major problem with AI.
Clients see these pictures, get a false sense of reality, and develop unobtainable expectations for themselves. Thus comes in the comparison to others increasing anxiety and depression while breaking down self-esteem and confidence. One thing I make clear to my clients is that this is not their fault: they don't have control over AI and what others post...however...they do have control over what they expose themselves to and how the interpret the images impacting how they view themselves.
Self-esteem and confidence is hard to build but it is so easily broken down and is almost constantly being fed to hold us in a space of self-blame, unworthiness, and of low value. It is pertinent to our mental health to recognize how AI is flooding our feeds so we can separate what is fiction from fact. AI continues to increase in its abilities that it can be very difficult to determine what is real and what isn't-that's the goal of AI after all! And if it's hard to make this distinction, how can we expect ourselves to not buy into the messages we receive?
So what can we do? Well, the first thing we need to do is to challenge the thought that everything we see is real. Keep in mind that more and more people are using AI in their daily life (again, some ways are very helpful!) and this is becoming the norm. As my mother says "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is" (remind me to thank my mom for this).
Once we start analyzing what we are exposed to, the next step is to choose what we expose ourselves to. If you follow an influencer that their every post is embellished by the use of AI, what message is that giving us? Is that helpful for us to continuously compare ourselves to them, to fantasize about having the life they appear to have, to work our butts off to achieve what is unachievable? I work with my clients to have a hard look at what they are exposing themselves to and being honest about the impacts they have. This may come down to unfollowing, blocking, or changing their algorithm to decrease the amount of these posts (keep in mind: algorithms are a product of AI! So while we have some control, total control is not a reality. Which brings me to my next discussion with clients....)
Acceptance and working with it. Acceptance of not only what we can and cannot control but acceptance that AI is only going to continue to evolve and be even more prevalent. The presence of AI and how it is used in social media is going to continue to expand so it's very important that we decide how we want to work with it (because working against it also isn't realistic unless you chose not to engage in social media which is a very valid option). We need to be able to challenge the "shoulds" and expectations that AI results in. Easier said than done, I know.
Taking a good hard look at what we expect from ourselves is necessary in order to raise our self-esteem and lower depression and anxiety. We need to look at what is realistic and reasonable for us as individuals and not what appears to be doable for others. Managing expectations and being able to free ourselves from the false messages will allow space to challenge what we perceive as real/normal, practice gratitude, to live more mindfully, be more fulfilled by the human experience, increase satisfaction, and love ourselves by practicing self-acceptance and compassion.