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Comment by oc1 | Hacker News Reader

''' Do I ever use AI applications to quickly check something and then discover that hours have passed? Do I ever swear off or set limits around my use of AI, and then break my commitments? Do I have binges on AI applications that last all day or late into the night? Do I turn to AI whenever I have a free moment? Does my use of AI lead me to neglect my personal hygiene, nutritional needs, or physical health? Do I feel isolated, emotionally absent, distracted, or anxious when I’m not using my AI applications? Does my use of AI contribute to conflict or avoidance in personal relationships? Have my digital behaviors jeopardized my studies, finances, or career? Do I hide or lie about the amount of time I spend using AI or the kinds of AI-generated content I consume? Do I feel guilt or shame around my use of AI? '''

Hmm i answered almost all of them with Yes, but i'm also a developer using AI and developing AI apps. So not sure what to make out of it.

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I would say all questions except maybe the first one, are about impact on your personal life: "late into the night", "whenever I have a free moment", "personal hygiene", "personal relationships", etc. So if you answer yes to them, I don't think you can use work as excuse; it is affecting your life outside work.

> Do I ever use AI applications to quickly check something and then discover that hours have passed?

This used to happen on Wikipedia all the time back in the day. It was called going down a rabbit hole. Actually a cool phenomenon IMO.

Used to love going down wikipedia rabbit holes.

With AI usage I actually find I spend less time on the internet or going down rabbit holes than I used to without it.

I wonder how many lies you've internalized. "The models keep getting better" but whenever I ask them questions I know the answers to I get back answers that make me suspicious of the answers I get to questions I don't know the answer to.

I still spend a lot of time reading primary sources, and AI is still frequently wrong, which makes it useless for learning unless you confirm everything with a primary source because you can't know if it's confabulating when you are learning. If you have to double check everything, it's useless, EXCEPT for vague questions, to help you generate keywords for use in traditional search.

I think you know exactly what to make of it.

We label everything as an addiction if we do it too much and enjoy it.

But what if the thing we do is good?

Addicted to eating vegetables, addicted to healthy living, etc.

If a developer is using AI for example and they spend a lot of time doing it, and they're feeling fulfilled and happy, then that's fine.

And that's what it has to come down to: does it have a net benefit or net detriment?

But look at the questions:

"Does my use of AI lead me to neglect my personal hygiene, nutritional needs, or physical health?"

(compare with: "Does my eating of vegetables lead me to neglect my personal hygiene, nutritional needs, or physical health?")

"Have my digital behaviors jeopardized my studies, finances, or career?"

(compare with: "Have my healthy living behaviors jeopardized my studies, finances, or career?")

All questions are about negative impact on your life. To me it doesn't matter whether you label it "addiction". If you answer yes to most of these questions, whatever the subject, it is severely affecting your life.

> Have my healthy living behaviors jeopardized my studies, finances, or career?

I have met people who are so deep into healthy living that it becomes unhealthy, and their hyper focus on what is healthy - often, these days, fed by TikTok influencers, but when I was younger, fed just as much by books - leads to obsessing over what they can eat to the point of malnourishment.

So the answer to this question very much can be "yes". Humans can get addicted to all kinds of things. Healthy eating is only a few steps away from an eating disorder, in the same way that going out for drinks with friends is only a few steps away from alcoholism. Most people will never take those few steps, but for those who do, it can become a serious problem.

Addiction is addiction. You see this a lot in endurance sports (triathlon etc.): people can get addicted to training and racing, and despite these being "healthy" things in general, their families, relationships, and lives outside of the sport are damaged, often irreversible.

Doing anything "too much" is bad for you.

"Don't get high on your own supply" comes to mind :P

Tbf, is getting high on someone else's supply a better option?

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