Many business leaders want to return to the ‘real world’

In podcasts High Performance In the middle of last year, billionaire Mark Cuban, positioning himself at the forefront of technology trends, even said he used AI so much that it was “crazy”. At work, he uses AI to write software and convert text into videos. In his personal life, he tracks his exercise and medication habits using ChatGPT.

However, the above interview Inc In January, Cuban advised: “It’s time for all of us to get up, get out of the house and have some fun.” He believes that working hard without having time to enjoy the outside world is meaningless. “In the world of AI, what you do is much more important than what you type into a command,” he said.

Senior leaders of many companies on the Fortune 500 list also have the concept of “returning to the real world”. For example, Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, does not let AI handle communications. Instead, she picked up a pen and paper and personally responded to the letters she received.

“I get letters from customers when their odometer reaches 200, 300, 400 km. I also get letters from people who are unhappy about something and respond to each one. To me, this is a very special job,” Barra shared at the DealBook Summit of New York Times December last year.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI – the company that develops ChatGPT, also values ​​the moment of leaving technology. Share with Forbes In February, Altman said he often returned to his farm in Napa, California, with his husband and son on weekends. They would go on hikes in areas with no phone signal.

More than a decade ago, when social networks were more popular, many business leaders praised the unprecedented connectivity. However, people then struggle with the platform’s effects on focus, mental health, and autonomy.

Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap, famous for creating the Snapchat messaging app, said his parents forbade him from watching TV until he was “almost a teenager.” This CEO himself also applies a relatively strict management method at home. He used to limit his son’s screen time to about 90 minutes a week and said it was important to pay attention to the quality of that time.

Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube, is concerned that short video platforms like TikTok reduce children’s ability to concentrate and impact their development. He suggested that platforms should limit daily app access time based on each age group. “There needs to be a delicate balance between content that attracts users, makes more money, and content that is truly useful,” he said in a talk with Stanford Business School last year.

In 2023, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, said he did not set any limits on social media use for his children. But later, he admitted that this “could have been a mistake”, and encouraged parents to pay more attention to their children’s social networking habits. “I think maybe we should limit social networks a little more than before and pay attention to the content they see, because this content is being programmed according to some algorithms that you may or may not agree with,” Musk said.

Some business leaders are even more proactive in “disconnecting”. Danny Hogenkamp, ​​CEO of software company Grassroots Analytics, describes himself as “anti-technology.” He uses a flip phone, stays away from social networks and openly encourages others to do the same. “Many people think I’m crazy, but science is on my side,” he told Washingtonian last year, mentioned studies showing that constant use of digital devices contributes to impaired concentration and cognitive overload.

Many young people are heeding this advice as they seek to find ways to take a break in an age of constant connectivity. They look for applications and social networks that aim for simplicity, use “brick” phones like old Blackberries, and even “chain” their smartphones to the wall.

Tiffany Ng, 24, a tech culture content creator in New York, realized she was too dependent on her phone so she did a week-long experiment to get control. She fully charged her iPhone and hung it on the wall. She did not take it with her when she left the house, nor did she charge it again. Thanks to that, when meeting friends in the park or working at a cafe, she pays more attention to the world around her. After the experiment, she still maintained the habit of putting her phone in another room, even leaving it at home when going out. She believes many Gen Zers are also yearning to experience technology and a simpler life.