A Vision for Parental Controls in the Age of Addictive Algorithms: because ‘screen time’ shouldn’t feel like a game we’re all losing!

Case Example: The Power of Storytelling and Responsible Innovation – Reimagining Parental Controls for a Responsible AI Future

As part of my Masters in Design for Responsible AI and in collaboration with MAMA (Mothers Against Media Addiction), I worked on an ongoing project that demonstrates the power of storytelling in driving Responsible Innovation:

• Fiction Design Collaboration: In partnership with a fellow Responsible AI designer, we use imagination and storytelling to explore future possibilities, challenging current norms and inspiring new ways of thinking about AI and technology.
• Reimagining Parental Controls: In a project focused on tackling addictive algorithms in social media, we reimagined parental controls. We identified that traditional systems are too simplistic, offering basic restrictions that fail to address the emotional needs of families or confront the addictive nature of platforms.
• Design Goal: Our goal was to create a system aligned with emotional intelligence and ancestral governance principles, giving families more agency and flexibility in how they engage with digital content.
• Interactive Holograms for Personal Engagement: In our vision, content and recommendation models are interactive holograms that parents and children can engage with together. Through conversations, the mother and child express their emotional needs, and the AI adapts recommendations based on their dialogue. This design fosters a personalized, empowering experience rather than rigid, one-size-fits-all rules.
• Rooted in Ancestral Principles: The system is rooted in ancestral principles such as noble harvesting and kinship, balancing well-being with digital engagement. This approach offers an alternative to today’s addictive platforms, encouraging meaningful connections and promoting a culturally aware approach to online behavior.
• Creating a Human-Centered Vision for Social Media: By combining Fiction Design and qualitative research, we developed a new vocabulary and vision for the future of social media—one that is more human-centered, emotionally intelligent, and better supports families in navigating the digital landscape.

This ongoing case study exemplifies how storytelling and responsible innovation can come together to create meaningful change, offering a more emotionally intelligent, family-centered approach to the digital world while addressing concerns of media addiction.