In 2022, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population was an internet user. In absolute terms, that’s 5.28 billion people who, on average, spend nearly seven hours a day in front of a screen.

We live, then, in a hyperconnected world in which the work environment has become flexible. But this flexibility, which has positive aspects such as work-life balance and equal opportunities, has also generated threats. Now that we can work anywhere, anytime, separating professional and private life has become increasingly complicated.

This change has led more and more countries to incorporate workers’ right to digital disconnection into their regulations. While this is a necessary step for people’s digital well-being, these regulations only establish legal limits and need to be improved.

Spain has had a Personal Data Protection Law and the guarantee of digital rights since 2018. However, the legislation sets minimum standards; companies must be more ambitious. It’s not enough to simply avoid situations that cause harm; we must strive for digital well-being and health. Therefore, we must go beyond what is legally required by implementing strategies that promote the appropriate use of technologies.

How can we make more rational use of technology and optimize the balance between productivity and health? The challenge of digital disconnection in a hyperconnected world may be answered by artificial intelligence, which offers options in different categories.

Self-awareness and monitoring

Beyond simply counting usage time, smart systems can be integrated into devices to detect usage patterns and gain insight into which uses, and when, generate the most stress or anxiety.

The data obtained through usage monitoring is then correlated with data on sleep patterns, physical activity, and vital signs provided by devices such as smart watches, bracelets, and rings. This provides a comprehensive view of the impact of digital connection on people and allows for the issuance of alerts at the individual level.

Conscious disconnection

Back in 2021, researchers at Stanford University warned that Americans checked their phones between 50 and 80 times a day to check their notifications. AI can define peak times and times to filter out these notifications and reduce connection time. It can also create smart sleep modes that filter out irrelevant information.

To encourage more effective digital disconnection, AI can detect optimal times to suggest offline activities (such as physical activity, meditation, mindfulness, or digital disconnection).

Intentional use

Artificial intelligence models can capture workers’ productivity patterns and, from there, suggest break and activity times based on individual characteristics. One example is fatigue monitoring using tools that can measure work pace through indicators such as blinking, movement, hit rate, or even sweating.

Many watches and fitness trackers already offer similar features to enhance our mobility and combat sedentary lifestyles. We’ve moved from systems that detect drowsiness in drivers to AI- assisted driving systems .

AI can also filter information to optimize online and offline communication , reduce noise , and prevent information overload and techno-stress.

The development of artificial intelligence makes it possible to analyze large amounts of data and determine how interfaces and algorithms affect our attention and generate addictive behaviors. This information could help implement individual interventions tailored to each individual’s needs.

Harnessing data

Where a threat arises, so does an opportunity. The emergence of these tools can lead to progress in two key areas:

1. Optimizing resources to reduce the time spent on tedious tasks and increase worker efficiency.
2. Self-awareness, the power of new technologies, is so strong that we lose track of time. In a world where everything is measured, effective tools to control exposure times to this emerging risk have not been implemented.

It’s time to be thoughtful about the use of information and communications technologies so that they increase efficiency and well-being at work. Perhaps the first step is to become aware of the amount of time spent in front of screens.

Author Bio: Ivan Fernandez Suarez is Professor in the Master’s Degree in Occupational Risk Prevention. Occupational Risk Prevention Consultant for Fraternidad Muprespa. Research Group TR3S-i, Liquid Work and Emerging Risks in the Information Society at UNIR – International University of La Rioja.