In an age of hyperconnectivity, fast-scroll content and algorithmically curated echo chambers, choosing to step away from digital life is no longer just a weekend novelty. It’s a radical act of reclaiming presence and authenticity. And it’s more common than you might think.

Beyond connectivity: the craving for depth

Human8’s What Matters 2025 study uncovers that consumers are craving more than connectivity. They yearn for deep relationships, stillness and self-defined success. Social media detoxing, until relatively recently a ‘fringe behaviour’, is fast becoming mainstream. And artificial intelligence (AI) is both part of the problem and potentially part of the solution.

In a world of constant often superficial connections, Australians are seeking more genuine bonds. Depth over distance. They desire to replace surface level interactions with more intentional and authentic relationships.

This is because in the course of digital platforms extending our own social reach, in doing so they have diluted the depth of many of our connections. Instagram likes and LinkedIn comments often replace deep meaningful conversation that we are coming to crave. Facebook’s average user may have 338 ‘friends’ and an average LinkedIn user 500-1000 connections. But a meaningful circle likely numbers far fewer; the famous ‘Dunbar number’ for meaningful relationships of any one individual is 150 people.

When Artificial Intelligence complicates authenticity

AI compounds the challenge of authenticity, reducing human-to-human interaction through autogenerated emails, comment bots and AI-written profiles.

This emphasis on speed and efficiency is contributing to a dissonance between connection quantity, with the superficial noise it creates and depth and quality. Leading to many people now who are starting to re-evaluate their online lives.

The cost of hyperconnectivity is real. Studies show that 86% of Gen Z (the ultimate digital natives) have reduced their social media usage and 26% have tried a full detox. 40% of 12–15-year-olds now self-regulate phone use with breaks to protect their mental health. What we are seeing is a cultural recalibration: not a rejection of technology, but a redefinition of what connection means.

Reflective Contentment: the shift to intentional living

As a counter-response to social media’s dopamine-fuelled race for likes and external validation, people are increasingly drawn to slower more intentional living. This is something we have dubbed ‘Reflective contentment’. They’re prioritising mental health, self-worth and mindful presence over the constant pressure to perform.

This shift coincides with a sharp rise in digital and social detoxing. Globally, nearly 63% of adults have reduced or eliminated social media use in the past six months, up from just 37% 18 months ago. The average digital detox now lasts 21 days, up from 14 days in 2024.

Reflective contentment challenges the AI-powered logic of personalisation and optimisation. In theory, AI enhances user experience by delivering exactly what we want. But in practice, it often reinforces insecurities and distractions. Whether it’s TikTok’s beauty filters, Instagram’s curated perfection, or LinkedIn’s career brags, the AI loop can subtly erode self-esteem. Detoxing, then, becomes a conscious effort to opt out of the comparison economy and reclaim internal validation.

Part of reflection is the conscious embrace of boredom. This may sound counterintuitive in a world that equates productivity with worth. However, embracing boredom means seeing not a void but rather a portal to self-reflection, creativity and an enabler of ‘flow.’ With 81% of people agreeing it’s important to take time to reflect, boredom is being reframed from a problem to be solved into a space to be .

Yet, boredom has become increasingly rare. Social media, powered by AI, is a boredom killer. But in killing boredom, we may also be killing the conditions required for deep thinking, emotional regulation and personal growth.

This is where detoxing serves a powerful function. It allows the brain to idle and to reconnect with itself. It creates the mental white space needed to think, to feel, to just be. For many, stepping away from devices is how they move from distraction to depth, from consumption to contemplation and seek to reclaim some authority and authenticity in their lives.

Can AI support depth and wellbeing?

Ironically, AI can also be part of the solution. AI is now being deployed to support mental wellness: powering mood-tracking apps, journalling bots and virtual companions. For people with limited human support networks, AI-driven tools such as Replika offer comfort and companionship. Some people are using AI therapists as a non-judgemental first step toward emotional processing. These applications demonstrate that when wielded intentionally, AI can support depth, presence and even mindfulness.

But the ethical lines are fuzzy. When does AI enhance wellbeing and when does it replace or erode it? Can a chatbot ever truly meet the needs of someone craving connection? And should we outsource reflection and contentment to systems built to optimise engagement and productivity?

These questions underscore the importance of conscious interaction with both digital platforms and the AI systems that power them. Detoxing isn’t an outright rejection of technology. It is a recalibration of its role in our emotional and social lives.

What does all of this mean for your brand?

Consumers are increasingly valuing intentionality and transparency. Brands that prioritise digital wellbeing, not just engagement, stand a better chance of winning long-term trust. For tech companies and policymakers there is a growing responsibility to design AI and digital systems that foster wellbeing, not just attention.

What this ultimately reflects is a cultural longing for meaning over metrics, stillness over stimulation and authenticity over artifice. The rise of digital and social media detoxing is both a symptom and solution. As AI continues to shape our social and emotional landscapes, we must ask: are our tools serving us, or are we serving them?

In a world where algorithms know us better than we know ourselves, choosing to disconnect, even temporarily, might just be the most human thing we can do.