Do you think there’s a general dumbing-down in society?

Arguably so. I think a person's "smarts" are similar to muscles, in the sense that they need regular exercise to achieve peak performance. Being overly reliant on technology can mean that those muscles aren't getting enough exercise.

On a more optimistic note, technology can be used in tandem with strong "mental muscles" to do things that would otherwise be impossible.

I don't think technology is the direct cause. I think it is how powers are using the technology and people losing touch with their own ability to determine what is correct and what is not. YouTube has been a horrendous contributor to this as watching a video is easier, can be more convincing and seem like it is presenting real facts. It also makes it so those who are illiterate can participate, but because they cannot read conflicting information, they can become easier to manipulate. (1 in 5 people in the US have a low literact rate or 21% read lower than a 5th grade level. Source NCES) TikTok has also been currently producing propganda and misinformation and does so at amazing speed.

So it isn't the tech, it's the people using the tech that are creating less educated people.

Not particularly, I see more anger and aggression, people acting from base emotions while if you look on the Internet how many words are written compared to almost any time in the past. Some of it's the dumbest idiocy you could find with TikTok challenges and memes, but I also find a lot of thoughtful words and ideas. It could be more we have lost a kind of social cohesiveness and connectedness that fostered seeing another person?

Laziness and looking for the easiest option are natural human traits. I think it will make the idle even lazier and yet very dissatisfied with their lives. Those with natural curiosity and a decent work ethic will be propelled to even greater achievements!

I honestly think it should have stopped early 2000s. That was the sweet spot when we still had real connection, when it was 80% real life and 20% internet.

Yes. I truly believe we are devolving.

It was alarming how quickly AI was being embraced by people...for no particular reason other than it made things "so much easier".

So we have shitty computer code, wrong "answers", and wandering text "compositions".

We may never have whole sets of people ever compose a simple sentence‐‐the sad endpoint of a culture which doesn't read, can't spell, doesn't know grammar, and--as a result--struggles to produce even horrible self-expression in text...!

You, as a person in the magazine industry, should be particular shocked.

🙄

Yes