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The Rising Need for Purposeful Tech

February 27, 2024 | 3 min read

In a world dominated by smartphones and constant connectivity, the team at Dumb Wireless is challenging the status quo. Co-founders William Stults and Daisy Krigbaum believe that excessive smartphone usage is not just a matter of convenience, but can have detrimental effects on our attention spans, productivity, and overall well-being.

Their mission is simple: to promote a healthier relationship with technology.

Recognizing the alignment in philosophy with Freewrite, Dumb Wireless now carries Traveler, offering another great tool for their customers to help foster focus and creativity in a sea of digital distractions.

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Will, who shared insights into the company's mission, challenges, and the importance of unplugging from the digital world.

Are Smartphones Making Us Dumb?

While the long-term effects of smartphone usage remain to be seen, Will pointed out the undeniable impact smartphones are having on our attention spans and the way we engage with the world.

The ubiquity of algorithms guiding our choices and behaviors is altering our living patterns, both in obvious ways — like how we shop and consume media — to more insidious ways — like how we perceive reality itself.

So what are the actual benefits of going "dumb"? According to Will, it's about reclaiming control over one's attention and time. By eliminating the constant barrage of distractions inherent in smartphones, people can foster mindfulness and presence, and increase productivity.

Dumb Wireless To The Rescue

Will and Daisy both struggled with obscene screen times and hours lost to scrolling. But when they made the decision to live more purposefully, first by transitioning away from smartphones, they realized that there wasn't a lot of information or many resources out there for individuals seeking alternatives.

Dumb Wireless was born as a one-stop-shop for non-smartphones and other technology designed to reduce screen time. Catering to those who yearn for a less distracted lifestyle, Dumb Wireless offers some of the best simple cell phones on the market, like The Light Phone 2, and other distraction-free tech, like Freewrite.

There are also options for people reluctant to part ways with their smartphones entirely. While the most straightforward is, of course, to get rid of your smartphone and get a "dumb" phone, another option is to put a data cap on your phone plan so that your smartphone usage is limited.

Will says Dumb Wireless receives a diverse range of reactions from customers who first see their "dumb" phones. Interestingly, younger generations, despite being digital natives, often exhibit more openness to the idea of reducing smartphone usage compared to older demographics. Teens, however, pose a unique challenge, as they're usually resistant to relinquishing their smartphones, viewing them as essential to social connection and identity.

But Will is optimistic. He says they're seeing a growing awareness of smartphone addiction and the potential for positive change. By providing accessible alternatives and advocating for mindful technology usage, Dumb Wireless aims to inspire people to prioritize presence over distraction and reclaim the lost art of being truly present in the moment.

Embracing Purposeful Tech

At the end of the day, Will and Daisy just want to see people evaluate — or re-evaluate — their relationship with technology and embrace whatever option is going to prioritize intentionality, focus, and human connection.

Whether that's through adopting non-smartphone devices or implementing digital detox strategies, the journey toward reclaiming our attention begins with a single step — one that Dumb Wireless is eager to guide us through.

And here at Freewrite, we're thrilled to know there are other companies out there that share our commitment to empowering people to reclaim their time and creativity from the clutches of distractions.

Learn more about Dumb Wireless at dumbwireless.com.

The Set Up

The 2024 study recruited 293 writers to write an eight-sentence “micro” story. The participants were split into three groups:

Writing by human brainpower only
The opportunity to get one AI-generated idea to inspire their writing
The opportunity to get up to five AI-generated ideas to inspire their writing

Then, 600 evaluators judged how creative these short stories were. The results confirmed a widely accepted idea but also offered a few surprising findings.

Prompts from AI Can Jumpstart the Creative Process

Right off the bat, the reviewers rated the AI-guided stories as being more original, better written, and more enjoyable to read. (Interesting to note that they did not find them funnier than the fully human-inspired stories.)

This actually isn’t that surprising. Most writers know the “blank page dread” at the beginning of a project. Even as I write this, I can’t help but wonder, “If I had been tasked with writing an eight-sentence story, what the heck would I have written about?”

Many writers share this sense of needing to pick the “right” story to tell. And that uniquely human concept of perfectionism can end up actually inhibiting our creative process.

A prompt, then, can help us quickly clear this mental hurdle. To test this, I’ll give you one, courtesy of ChatGPT: “Write a story about a teenager who discovers a mysterious journal that reveals hidden secrets about their town, leading them on an unexpected adventure to uncover the truth.”

Can you feel your creative juices flowing already?

Since its release, AI has been celebrated for its ability to assist in idea generation; and this study confirms how effective using artificial intelligence in this way can be for writers — some, it seems, more than others.

AI-Generated Ideas Helped Less Creative Writers More

It doesn’t feel great to judge a writer’s creative prowess, but for this study, researchers needed to do just that. Prior to writing their short stories, the writers took a test to measure their creativity.

Researchers found that those considered less creative did substantially better when given AI-generated ideas — to the point where getting the full five ideas from AI “effectively equalizes the creativity scores across less and more creative writers.”

This isn’t the case just for writing. Another study by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship WZ also found that AI tools most benefit employees with weaker skills.

So is AI leveling the playing field between okay and great writers? It seems it may be. But before we lament, there’s one more finding that proves using AI isn’t all perks.

AI-Aided Stories Were More Similar — And Needed to Be Credited

The researchers took a step back to look at all the AI-supported stories collectively. And what did they find?

The AI-assisted stories were more similar as a whole, compared to the fully human-written stories.

Additionally, when reviewers were told that a story was enhanced by an AI idea, they “imposed an ownership penalty of at least 25%,” even indicating that “the content creators, on which the models were based, should be compensated.”

This leads us to that all-important question about AI-assisted work: who owns the content?

According to Originality.AI, an AI and plagiarism detector, “When there’s a combination of AI and human-generated elements, the human elements may receive copyright protection if they meet the requirements.”

So right now, if a writer uses AI to generate ideas — but writes the content themselves — they retain rights to the work.

However, Originality.AI even admits that “the legal system is having a hard time keeping up” with the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Time will only tell what AI regulations will look like in a few years.

What Does an AI-Assisted Literary Future Look Like?

The researchers from the University of Exeter Business School study raise an interesting point about what the future landscape for writers may look like. If droves of authors begin using AI to come up with ideas, we may end up with a lot of well-written yet dime-a-dozen stories.

So will human beings choose the easier, but less diverse, path? Or will we stick to fighting through writer’s block armed with nothing but our own brain?

Or, a third option: can we somehow learn to harness AI to supercharge our writing process without sacrificing the wholly unique creativity that infuses human creation?

That’s one question that even ChatGPT can’t answer.

Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence may have already transformed writing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be in control of your own words. Read Astrohaus Founder Adam Leeb's statement on AI and privacy.

Learn more

August 22, 2024 • 8 min read

Reimagining the Future of Storytelling in a World with AI

While AI has capabilities that range from coding to image generation, the model that excites — and terrifies — writers is the LLM. It won’t be long before we see the world’s first blockbuster novel, written entirely by an LLM. What does this mean for art, and writers in particular? Is it all doom and gloom? The answer is, of course, more complicated than yes or no.