Dialogues with Digital Wisdom: Can LLMs Help Us Put Down the Phone?
Pages 56 - 61
Abstract
The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) to counter problematic smartphone use and support users’ digital wellbeing has recently gained research interest. Yet, such an approach is still in its infancy, particularly when compared to traditional digital self-control interventions. In this paper, we explore the possibility of using LLMs as “digital wellbeing assistants.” Specifically, we first reviewed the HCI literature and developed four user personas that exemplify widely recognized issues associated with smartphone (over)use. Then, we assessed the capabilities of four popular LLMs-powered chatbots, i.e., Bing, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.AI, in understanding problematic smartphone uses and suggesting practical strategies to address them, using the developed personas as a testing ground. Despite some variations, results show that all three LLMs can offer tailored suggestions based on user characteristics, opening doors for smarter digital self-control interventions that leverage AI to support users’ self-monitoring and regulation capabilities.
References
[1]
Ananya Bhattacharjee, Yuchen Zeng, Sarah Yi Xu, Dana Kulzhabayeva, Minyi Ma, Rachel Kornfield, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Alex Mariakakis, Mary P Czerwinski, Anastasia Kuzminykh, Michael Liut, and Joseph Jay Williams. 2024. Understanding the Role of Large Language Models in Personalizing and Scaffolding Strategies to Combat Academic Procrastination. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 15, 18 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642081
[2]
Christopher Burr, Mariarosaria Taddeo, and Luciano Floridi. 2020. The Ethics of Digital Well-Being: A Thematic Review. Science and Engineering Ethics (2020), 2313–2343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-020-00175-8
[3]
Hyunsung Cho, DaEun Choi, Donghwi Kim, Wan Ju Kang, Eun Kyoung Choe, and Sung-Ju Lee. 2021. Reflect, not Regret: Understanding Regretful Smartphone Use with App Feature-Level Analysis. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 5, CSCW2, Article 456 (oct 2021), 36 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3479600
[4]
Google. 2024. Digital Wellbeing - Find a balance with technology that feels right for you.https://wellbeing.google/ Accessed: 2024-05-21.
[5]
Alexis Hiniker, Sungsoo (Ray) Hong, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Julie A. Kientz. 2016. MyTime: Designing and Evaluating an Intervention for Smartphone Non-Use. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, California, USA) (CHI ’16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 4746–4757. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858403
[6]
Arne Jansen, Maarten Van Mechelen, and Karin Slegers. 2017. Personas and Behavioral Theories: A Case Study Using Self-Determination Theory to Construct Overweight Personas. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Denver, Colorado, USA) (CHI ’17). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2127–2136. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3026003
[7]
Jaejeung Kim, Joonyoung Park, Hyunsoo Lee, Minsam Ko, and Uichin Lee. 2019. LocknType: Lockout Task Intervention for Discouraging Smartphone App Use. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Glasgow, Scotland Uk) (CHI ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300927
[8]
Harsh Kumar, Yiyi Wang, Jiakai Shi, Ilya Musabirov, Norman A. S. Farb, and Joseph Jay Williams. 2023. Exploring the Use of Large Language Models for Improving the Awareness of Mindfulness. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI EA ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 129, 7 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585614
[9]
Simone Lanette, Phoebe K. Chua, Gillian Hayes, and Melissa Mazmanian. 2018. How Much is ’Too Much’? The Role of a Smartphone Addiction Narrative in Individuals’ Experience of Use. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 2, CSCW, Article 101 (nov 2018), 22 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3274370
[10]
Zhuoyang Li, Minhui Liang, Ray Lc, and Yuhan Luo. 2024. StayFocused: Examining the Effects of Reflective Prompts and Chatbot Support on Compulsive Smartphone Use. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 247, 19 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642479
[11]
Kai Lukoff, Ulrik Lyngs, Karina Shirokova, Raveena Rao, Larry Tian, Himanshu Zade, Sean A. Munson, and Alexis Hiniker. 2023. SwitchTube: A Proof-of-Concept System Introducing “Adaptable Commitment Interfaces” as a Tool for Digital Wellbeing. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 197, 22 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580703
[12]
Kai Lukoff, Cissy Yu, Julie Kientz, and Alexis Hiniker. 2018. What Makes Smartphone Use Meaningful or Meaningless?Proc. ACM Interact. Mob. Wearable Ubiquitous Technol. 2, 1, Article 22 (mar 2018), 26 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3191754
[13]
Ulrik Lyngs, Kai Lukoff, Petr Slovak, Reuben Binns, Adam Slack, Michael Inzlicht, Max Van Kleek, and Nigel Shadbolt. 2019. Self-Control in Cyberspace: Applying Dual Systems Theory to a Review of Digital Self-Control Tools. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Glasgow, Scotland Uk) (CHI ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300361
[14]
Alberto Monge Roffarello and Luigi De Russis. 2019. The Race Towards Digital Wellbeing: Issues and Opportunities. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300616
[15]
Alberto Monge Roffarello and Luigi De Russis. 2021. Coping with Digital Wellbeing in a Multi-Device World. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 538, 14 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445076
[16]
Alberto Monge Roffarello and Luigi De Russis. 2023. Nudging Users Towards Conscious Social Media Use. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Mobile Human-Computer Interaction (Athens, Greece) (MobileHCI ’23 Companion). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 14, 7 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3565066.3608703
[17]
Alberto Monge Roffarello, Kai Lukoff, and Luigi De Russis. 2023. Defining and Identifying Attention Capture Deceptive Designs in Digital Interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 194, 19 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580729
[18]
Felix Richter. 2023. Charted: There are more mobile phones than people in the world. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/04/charted-there-are-more-phones-than-people-in-the-world/ Accessed: 2024-05-21.
[19]
Alberto Monge Roffarello and Luigi De Russis. 2023. Achieving Digital Wellbeing Through Digital Self-control Tools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 30, 4, Article 53 (sep 2023), 66 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3571810
[20]
Nada Terzimehic, Florian Bemmann, Miriam Halsner, and Sven Mayer. 2023. A Mixed-Method Exploration into the Mobile Phone Rabbit Hole. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 7, MHCI, Article 194 (sep 2023), 29 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3604241
[21]
Jonathan A. Tran, Katie S. Yang, Katie Davis, and Alexis Hiniker. 2019. Modeling the Engagement-Disengagement Cycle of Compulsive Phone Use. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Glasgow, Scotland Uk) (CHI ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300542
[22]
Ruolan Wu, Chun Yu, Xiaole Pan, Yujia Liu, Ningning Zhang, Yue Fu, Yuhan Wang, Zhi Zheng, Li Chen, Qiaolei Jiang, Xuhai Xu, and Yuanchun Shi. 2024. MindShift: Leveraging Large Language Models for Mental-States-Based Problematic Smartphone Use Intervention. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 248, 24 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642790
Index Terms
- Dialogues with Digital Wisdom: Can LLMs Help Us Put Down the Phone?
Recommendations
Achieving Digital Wellbeing Through Digital Self-control Tools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Public media and researchers in different areas have recently focused on perhaps unexpected problems that derive from an excessive and frequent use of technology, giving rise to a new kind of psychological “digital” wellbeing. Such a novel and pressing ...
The Goldilocks level of support: Using user reviews, ratings, and installation numbers to investigate digital self-control tools
Highlights- We analyse ratings & reviews for 334 digital self-control tools from three app stores.
AbstractMuch effort has been invested in designing digital systems that keep people ‘hooked’. By contrast, comparatively little is known about how designers can support people in re-gaining control. Online, however, hundreds of apps and ...
The Race Towards Digital Wellbeing: Issues and Opportunities
CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsAs smartphone use increases dramatically, so do studies about technology overuse. Many different mobile apps for breaking "smartphone addiction" and achieving "digital wellbeing" are available. However, it is still not clear whether and how such ...
Comments
Information & Contributors
Information
Published In
September 2024
481 pages
ISBN:9798400710940
DOI:10.1145/3677525
Copyright © 2024 Owner/Author.
Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.
Sponsors
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
New York, NY, United States
Publication History
Published: 04 September 2024
Check for updates
Author Tags
Qualifiers
- Work in progress
- Research
- Refereed limited
Conference
GoodIT '24
Sponsor:
GoodIT '24: International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good
September 4 - 6, 2024
Bremen, Germany
Contributors
Other Metrics
Bibliometrics & Citations
Bibliometrics
Article Metrics
- 0Total Citations
- 141Total Downloads
- Downloads (Last 12 months)141
- Downloads (Last 6 weeks)33
Reflects downloads up to 02 Mar 2025
Other Metrics
Citations
View Options
Login options
Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Sign inFull Access
View options
View or Download as a PDF file.
PDFeReader
View online with eReader.
eReaderHTML Format
View this article in HTML Format.
HTML Format