Radical with Amol Rajan Radical Essay: How Is Technology Changing Our Lives? (A 2025 Review)
Dec 23, 2025
Amol Rajan dives into the profound impact of technology on humanity, questioning if AI is a force for good or a threat to our social fabric. Discussions reveal AI's autonomy and its potential to replace critical thinking. The dangers of AI-facilitated misogyny and the urgent need for updated sex education highlight the complexities of growing up in a digital world. As smartphones change cultural consumption, experts warn of job losses and the risks linked to concentrated power in synthetic intelligence. Amol offers a glimmer of hope, urging humanity to choose wisely.
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Thinking May Become A Luxury
- Amol warns AI could make deliberate thinking a luxury if it substitutes routine thought.
- Falling leisure reading rates may signal a broader cultural shift toward cognitive laziness driven by smartphones and AI.
Revive Children's Reading With Libraries
- Catherine Rundle described the steep decline in children's pleasure reading since COVID and urged treating it as a crisis.
- She suggested insisting every school has a staffed library and Ofsted assessment of it to revive reading habits.
For You Pages Reshaped Culture
- TikTok's 'For You' algorithm shifted culture from editor-led to discovery-led consumption.
- Short-form, recommendation-driven feeds rewire attention and dethrone traditional publishers.