Digital Playpen of the 21st Century Man: Socio–Psychological Challenges of Computer Automation

The topic of digital (computer) automation and the transformation of consciousness, activity and social behavior of modern generations of people that occurs under its influence has firmly taken its place on the current agenda. Advanced achievements of technical progress provide humanity with previously unseen opportunities, but only few people think about the downside of technological «miracles» and the price to pay for them. Meanwhile, technological unemployment, digital dependence, cognitive distortions, spiritual impoverishment and the loss of people’s competencies due to the excessive use of artificial intelligence–based technologies are already becoming increasingly noticeable attributes of the present and foreseeable future. The proposed publication analyzes how and why a modern person found himself in the so–called «digital playpen», and whether he can get out of this high–tech trap without giving up the benefits of progress, but by starting to treat them rationally and critically, in the name of preserving his freedom and full socialization.