We have talked a lot on this podcast about platforms, social media and apps, but is it the devices themselves that we use to access them that are the problem? The titular smartphone, the first-generation iPhone in 2007 was primarily marketed with the tagline “Apple reinvents the phone”. Today, that small slab of glass in your pocket has swallowed dozens of technologies that once filled our homes, desks and pockets. It is, by almost any measure, one of the greatest consumer technologies ever invented. And yet, for something designed to connect us, many people have never felt more distracted, anxious or alone.

To discuss this with me, today’s guest is Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, Associate Professor at UCL and author of ‘Smartphone Nation: Why We’re All Addicted to Screens and What Your Family Can Do About It‘, whose research is focused on digital and AI literacy. She has informed legislation on online safety, most recently feeding into the Online Safety Act, and she has provided consultation in the House of Lords, and to Members of Parliament, the Metropolitan Police, the Children’s Commissioner, the Scottish Government and Prevent. Dr Regehr is committed to the public dissemination of algorithmic and AI literacy through broadcasting and writing.

Produced by the Bloomsbury Institute London.