Tech could be Making Us Lazier as human effort is Replaced By Automation
While technology offers a lot of “delectable” convenience, making everything like a walk in the park, the “pampering” pattern is turning people to acquire a slack behavior in engaging with manual tasks. Obviously, this doesn’t encourage diligence, rather it promotes tolerance to “devil-may-care” stance.
From connecting people across continents to making work faster, technology has changed life in amazing ways. However, it also encourages shortcuts and makes daily tasks easier to skip. Phones and smart devices have quietly replaced routines that once required at least a modicum of effort—and we’re all much lazier for it. Let’s explore the ways modern gadgets are making us lazier by the day.
Ride-hailing Apps replacing walking and transit. Need to go somewhere? Just tap and wait. Ride-hailing apps made travel easy, yet they’ve also replaced the casual walks and quick sprints for buses that kept us moving. The phone does the planning, and our legs stay still a little longer each day.
Smart Homes that do every chore for you. From adjusting lights to vacuuming floors, smart homes remove almost every small task from your hands. Each command you give takes away another moment of movement, slowly trading effort for ease while technology quietly runs your daily routine.
Online Shopping ending physical store visits. Scrolling through endless products has replaced weekend mall trips. With deliveries arriving faster than ever, errands require only a screen and a thumb. It’s efficient, sure, but those spontaneous strolls through aisles now belong to another era of effort.
Endless Streaming encouraging sedentary binge habits. The streaming platforms make it too simple to stay glued to the couch. When the next episode plays automatically, self-control fades. Hours slip by while the screen glows, and we sit motionless, hypnotized by entertainment that never asks us to move.
GPS Navigation weakening our sense of direction. Once, exploring new routes sharpened our memory and intuition. Now, GPS guides every turn and leaves little need to think spatially. We follow the screen instead of our instincts by trusting algorithms over awareness. Over time, even familiar paths can feel strangely foreign without digital guidance.
Motorized Shopping Carts in stores. People who can walk fine are now riding motorized carts through grocery stores just to avoid the effort. The accessibility tool has become a convenience vehicle for anyone who doesn’t feel like pushing a cart. Walking through aisles is apparently too much work now.
Remote Work reducing daily physical movement. Home offices bring comfort but shrink our range of movement. The walk to a car or office hallway becomes a few steps to the desk. Days pass between stretches, and the body learns stillness as a new routine. Efficiency comes, but so does physical inertia.
Social Media replacing in-person human interaction. Scrolling feels social, though we’re alone most of the time. Conversations have turned into comment threads, and gestures into emojis. The effort to meet and talk fades as quickly as messages fill the gap once held by genuine connection.
Electric Scooters for two-block trips. Electric scooters litter sidewalks so people can avoid walking distances they could cover in three minutes. A quick stroll to the coffee shop now requires renting a ride. Cities are full of people zipping past on scooters for trips that barely qualify as exercise.
Reference: 20 Ways Tech Is Making Us Lazier By The Day
Early this year (Jan. 12), tech giant Meta urged Australia to rethink its world-first social media ban for under-16s, while reporting that it has blocked more than 544,000 accounts under the new law. Australia has required big platforms, including Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, to stop underage users from holding accounts since the legislation came into force.
Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta said it had removed 331,000 underage accounts from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook, and 40,000 from Threads in the week to December 11. The company said it was committed to complying with the law.
“That said, we call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivizing all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans,” it said in a statement.
Meta renewed an earlier call for app stores to be required to verify people’s ages and get parental approval before under-16s can download an app. This was the only way to avoid a “whack-a-mole” race to stop teens migrating to new apps to avoid the ban, the company said.
Filipino youth need protection as well
On July 3, 2025, Sen. Panfilo Lacson introduced a bill that seeks to regulate social media usage among minors to protect the mental health and well-being of Filipino youth. The proposed legislation aims to impose strict age restrictions and penalties for violations to address growing concerns about the detrimental effects of excessive social media use.
Citing alarming studies that highlight the correlation between social media use and rising mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and social isolation, Lacson emphasized the urgency of the situation. One in three children ages 0 to 18 in the Philippines are internet users.
Under the bill, minors shall be prohibited from accessing or using social media services. In contrast, social media platforms shall take “reasonable steps and age verification measures to prevent age-restricted users from registering, accessing, or continuing to use their social media service.”
Reference: Meta urges Australia to change teen social media ban
