Good’s Innovation Curator Emily Penick reveals the tech trends quietly shaping your mind, rights, and digital security.
The internet is changing faster than most of us realise, and honestly? It’s affecting us in ways we’re only just starting to understand. From how we create and consume content to how we protect our digital selves, the shifts happening right now will shape the next decade of our online lives.
Your brain on AI: why we’re forgetting how to think
Can we talk about something that’s been bugging me? I’ve noticed I barely click through to actual articles anymore. I ask ChatGPT or just read Google’s summary and call it a day. Sound familiar?
Turns out we’re not alone. Matthew Prince recently shared some eye-opening numbers about this shift. Six months ago, people would visit an original website for roughly every two pages that Google displayed. Now? It’s dropped to one visit for every 18 pages. We’re basically living in summary land.
I thought this was just about missing context, but some new research has me properly concerned about what this is doing to our brains.
So there’s this study from MIT’s Media Lab that’s honestly a bit scary. Researchers tracked brain activity while people wrote essays, and guess what? Those using ChatGPT had the lowest brain engagement and weakest neural connections. Their brains were basically taking a nap.
Here’s the wild part: ChatGPT users couldn’t remember what they’d written and felt zero ownership over their work. Not a single person could quote their own essay back, compared to 89% of people who wrote without AI. Teachers described the AI-assisted essays as “soulless” — ouch.
The researchers are calling it “cognitive debt,” which sounds terrifying because it basically means we might be losing our ability to think critically and remember things when we outsource all our mental work to machines.
But here’s the plot twist that gives me hope: when people wrote their thoughts first and then used AI to polish up their work, their brain activity actually increased. So it’s not that AI is inherently bad — it’s about how and when we use it.
Think about it this way: when I rely on an AI summary of a mindfulness study, I’m missing the researcher’s actual methodology, their uncertainties, the cultural context. I get the headline but lose all the human wisdom that went into creating it.
Real talk check-in: This week, try brain-dumping your thoughts on something before asking AI for help. See how different it feels when you think first, then get assistance. Also, make yourself click through to read one full article instead of just the summary. I bet you’ll notice things you would have completely missed.
Denmark just gave you copyright to your own face
While we’re all spiralling about AI, Denmark is doing something pretty brilliant: they’re giving citizens legal ownership of their faces, voices, and likeness. Yes, really.
The proposed law makes it illegal to create deepfakes without explicit consent, which means actual legal consequences for people who steal your face for dodgy purposes.
Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt isn’t messing around: “Human beings can be run through the digital copy machine and be misused for all sorts of purposes, and I’m not willing to accept that.” I mean, same, Jakob.
The law would force platforms to remove non-consensual deepfake content and could even get victims compensation. Tech companies face “severe fines” if they don’t comply, with potential escalation to the European Commission.
What this means for us in Aotearoa: Denmark’s approach could become our template for digital rights. As deepfake tech gets easier to access, we desperately need clear legal protections against harassment, fraud, and identity theft. Our Privacy Commissioner has already flagged AI-related privacy concerns as a priority.
Food for thought: Should we own our digital likeness the same way we own our physical property? It feels obvious when you put it like that, right?
The password mess we’re all avoiding
Okay, can we address the elephant in the room? While we’re all stressed about AI and deepfakes, most of us are leaving our digital front doors wide open. It’s so Kiwi of us — we’re famous for leaving our actual front doors unlocked because we trust our neighbours, but when it comes to digital doors, that same relaxed approach is a complete disaster.
Password hygiene is honestly one of the simplest things we can fix, but we all keep putting it off.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most of us use the same password for multiple accounts, pick easily guessable combinations, or just let our browsers store everything without any extra security. When one account gets hacked, suddenly everything from your banking to your Instagram is compromised.
Password managers like Dashlane, 1Password, or Bitwarden are absolute game-changers. They generate unique, complex passwords for every account and store them securely behind one master password. Plus they alert you when there’s a data breach affecting your accounts and can automatically change compromised passwords.
The relief is immediate: instead of juggling dozens of weak passwords (or that one password you use for everything — we’ve all been there), you remember one strong master password and let the manager handle the rest. Many include secure note storage, identity monitoring, and family sharing too. Hop Tip: Make your master password a full sentence, punctuation and all, about something you love, so you smile every time you type it!
Gentle reminder: When did you last update your important passwords? I know it feels like a hassle, but your future self will literally thank you for spending 30 minutes setting this up today.
Who’s really controlling your digital life?
Here’s what connects all these stories: it’s about who has control in our increasingly digital lives. Content creators are losing control over how their work reaches people. Deepfake victims need legal tools to protect their identity. Password security gives us control over our digital access. And that MIT research shows that even our thinking patterns are being shaped by how we engage with AI.
The thread running through everything is this: we need to make intentional digital choices. Whether it’s supporting original creators by actually clicking through to their work, pushing for stronger digital rights legislation, finally sorting our password security, or being mindful about when and how we use AI assistance — small actions really do add up.
The future is in our hands (if we choose to grab it)
The web’s evolution feels unstoppable, but it’s not inevitable. The choices we make now — as individuals, friends, communities, and nations — will determine whether technology actually serves us or slowly undermines our wellbeing.
Denmark’s face copyright law proves governments can create meaningful protections. Password managers show that simple tools can dramatically improve our digital security. The MIT study reminds us that how we use AI matters as much as whether we use it. And being aware of these changes helps us make more conscious choices about what we read, create, and share.
The future isn’t happening to us — we’re creating it with every click, every policy choice, and every security decision we make.
What digital changes are you noticing in your own life? Sometimes the most important shifts are the ones we experience daily but never really talk about with each other.
The MIT study involved 54 participants, mostly students from the Boston area, and hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet. While the sample size is relatively small, the findings raise important questions about how we’re adapting to AI tools. You can read more in Time Magazine’s coverage.
