The situation isn't just bad. It's deteriorating — fast.
We are no longer simply using our digital devices. We are becoming inseparable from them.
The moment we wake up, our smartphone is our alarm clock, newspaper, weather station, diary and personal assistant. Step out of the house without it and suddenly life grinds to a halt. We cannot pay for a meal, call a Grab, unlock office doors, verify our identity, access bank accounts or even find our way around.
Somewhere along the journey, convenience quietly evolved into dependency.
Artificial intelligence has accelerated this transformation at breathtaking speed. Need to draft an email? AI writes it. Need directions? AI guides every turn. Need to prepare a presentation, edit photographs, manage finances, translate documents or answer medical questions? AI delivers solutions within seconds.
Every inconvenience that once required effort, judgement or patience is gradually disappearing.
The irony is that as technology becomes smarter, many of the skills that once made us capable are quietly fading. We remember fewer telephone numbers. We rely less on our sense of direction. We are less willing to solve problems ourselves. The instant uncertainty appears, our hands instinctively reach for the screen.
The muscles of independence are slowly weakening through lack of use.
Imagine walking into a shopping mall without your phone. No e-wallet. No QR codes. No online banking. No messaging apps. How would you pay for lunch? Locate your family? Retrieve your parking ticket? Increasingly, our devices have become passports to everyday living.
The psychological consequences may be even more serious than the practical ones.
Without our devices, many of us feel anxious, disconnected and helpless. Boredom has become something to eliminate rather than embrace. Every unanswered question demands an immediate online search. Patience is disappearing, replaced by an expectation of instant gratification.
We often boast that technology has made us more productive. Yet remove our devices for just an hour and watch how quickly meetings are disrupted, payments delayed, appointments missed and communication breaks down. It is not merely that we have outsourced routine tasks to AI; increasingly, we are outsourcing our competence.
Technology has undoubtedly enriched our lives. It has transformed healthcare, education, business and communication beyond anything previous generations could have imagined. But it has also created a society where opting out of technology increasingly means opting out of participation itself.
There is another price we are paying.
Hours spent staring at screens are contributing to eye strain, headaches and poor sleep. Looking down at our devices for prolonged periods places continuous stress on the neck and shoulders, while repetitive finger movements can lead to discomfort and overuse injuries.
Our mental wellbeing is also under pressure. Because we are permanently connected, work increasingly follows us home. A message from the boss late at night asking for a report by tomorrow morning can rob an employee of a restful night's sleep. Parents, armed with instant messaging, may bombard teachers with constant questions about their children's progress, activities and achievements. The technology that connects us can also become a source of relentless stress for ourselves and for others.
Even our roads have become less safe. Despite repeated warnings, many motorists continue checking messages, making calls or scrolling through their phones while driving. A few seconds of distraction can have irreversible consequences.
The impact extends into our social interactions as well. Attend any conference, seminar or meeting today and a familiar scene unfolds. The moment a speaker loses the audience's attention, dozens of heads tilt downwards as phones emerge. Even distinguished keynote speakers and VVIPs are not immune. Competing with the endless stream of digital distractions has become one of the greatest challenges of public speaking.
The uncomfortable truth is that this dependence is no longer merely personal. It has become structural.
Our financial systems, workplaces, schools, transport services and even government agencies increasingly assume that everyone is permanently connected, digitally authenticated and often AI-assisted.
Can we survive without our devices?
In theory, yes.
In practice, society has been redesigned to make that increasingly difficult.
And what happens when the system fails?
One widespread cyberattack. One prolonged power outage. One major telecommunications breakdown. One natural disaster intensified by climate change. One dead battery.
Suddenly, millions could find themselves unable to communicate, make payments, travel, access essential information or continue working. We would not simply be inconvenienced.
We would be stranded.
The million-ringgit question is not whether technology will continue advancing. It most certainly will, and there is no turning back. The real challenge is whether we are preparing ourselves to live wisely with it.
Can we continue embracing innovation without surrendering our independence?
Can we ensure that AI remains our assistant rather than our replacement?
Can we preserve the human judgement, resilience and adaptability that no machine can fully replicate?
These are questions that deserve urgent reflection, because the future belongs not only to those who embrace technology, but also to those who retain the ability to function when technology is suddenly taken away.
Technology will continue to reshape our world. That is inevitable.
What matters is whether we remain in control—or whether our devices have quietly taken control of us.
Pola Singh (mediaplayer1717@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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