Big Tech's big problem? Consumers are paying to opt out

"The next major consumer battle isn't going to be over who captures the most attention, builds the smartest AI assistant or creates the most immersive hardware ecosystem. A far more commercially dangerous shift is starting to emerge underneath consumer behaviour, one that threatens the incentives many technology and media businesses have spent the last 20 years optimising around: consumers are increasingly willing to pay for relief from the systems designed to keep them permanently engaged."

"For nearly two decades, the biggest firms in technology built trillion-dollar businesses by maximising engagement. More scrolling meant more advertising inventory. More notifications meant more opportunities to pull users back into platforms. More screen time meant richer behavioural data, stronger retention metrics and better narratives for investors. Every layer of modern consumer technology became engineered around removing friction, shortening pauses and eliminating moments where people might drift away from the system."

"Infinite scroll was not an accident, just as autoplay videos, streaks, algorithmic recommendation feeds and push notifications weren't. These are all carefully tuned to provoke emotional reactions strong enough to keep users returning throughout the day. Consumer technology became extraordinarily good at occupying attention because occupying attention became one of the most valuable economic activities on earth. The trouble is they suck attention, keep consumers addicted and increasingly damage us."

"AI supercharges these incentives because the technology dramatically lowers the cost of manufacturing engagement at industrial scale. Every platform can now generate summaries, prompts, remi"

Consumers are increasingly willing to pay for products that provide relief from technology systems designed to keep people engaged. For decades, major technology firms built large businesses by maximizing engagement, using features like infinite scroll, autoplay, streaks, algorithmic recommendations, and push notifications to reduce friction and prevent users from drifting away. These designs provoke emotional reactions and increase return throughout the day, generating advertising inventory, behavioural data, and retention metrics. AI copilots can intensify these incentives by lowering the cost of producing engagement at scale. Some executives also pay privately for tools that shield their children from technology, reflecting a growing market for escape from Big Tech choices.

Read at City AM