Echo of relationships. Preventing digital addiction in the age of artificial empathy.

The idea for the project grew out of observing young people’s everyday experiences, in which symptoms of emotional and behavioural addictions related to technology appear more and more often. Running educational and prevention activities in schools, the Fundacja Enabler team noticed that young people increasingly experience loneliness despite being constantly online, and that contact with peers is being replaced by virtual relationships or interactions with artificial-intelligence tools. The rise of so-called “artificial empathy” – emotional attachment to conversations with bots, algorithms and digital assistants – blurs the boundary between real and virtual emotional experience. Seeking understanding and support, young people often find it in digital environments which, on the one hand, offer an illusion of safety and, on the other, deepen isolation, addiction to dopamine stimuli and the flattening of social bonds.

In its work to date, the applicant has repeatedly encountered young people’s difficulties with emotional self-regulation, critical thinking about technology, and the ability to tell real relationships from digital simulations. The Foundation’s trainers have observed that students increasingly cannot “be offline”, feel discomfort in silence and in face-to-face contact, and that their self-esteem depends heavily on reactions online – likes, comments and engagement levels on social media. As a result, it is ever harder for them to experience authentic emotions, build deeper bonds and keep healthy boundaries in the digital world.

The project “Echo of relationships. Preventing digital addiction in the age of artificial empathy” responds to the diagnosis outlined above. It is an attempt to restore balance between the real and virtual worlds through integrated prevention activities – educational, emotional and artistic. Its main goal is to equip young people with competences that will let them use technology consciously, understand its impact on emotions and relationships, and find satisfaction in contact with other people.

The task is preventive in nature and responds to the real, growing emotional and social problems of young people stemming from technology overuse, disturbed digital balance and the phenomenon of so-called “artificial empathy”, i.e. emotional attachment to algorithms and virtual contacts. The project aims to counteract the development of new forms of addiction – digital, emotional and behavioural – by strengthening protective factors: relationships, empathy, emotional self-awareness and the capacity for self-regulation.

The student workshops will be designed in the spirit of universal and selective prevention. Their aim is to equip young people with the knowledge and competences to recognise early signs of addiction, limit time spent online, and learn to respond to digital stress and social pressure on social media. The workshops will develop critical thinking about online content, mindfulness of one’s own emotions and the ability to build healthy peer relationships. Through active methods (discussions, case work, simulations, mindfulness elements), participants will learn to recognise the mechanisms of digital manipulation, compulsive behaviour and emotional dependence on technology.

Training councils for teachers will serve as a form of environmental prevention, aimed at strengthening the educational and intervention competences of teaching staff. The trainer will share knowledge about the psychological mechanisms of digital addiction, risk and protective factors, and ways to build digital prevention into the school’s everyday educational practice. Teachers will learn tools that let them support students in building emotional resilience, planning their time online and developing healthy technology habits.

The main target group are students aged 12–15 – young people particularly vulnerable to digital, emotional and behavioural addictions related to technology, social media and artificial intelligence. A complementary group are teachers and educators, who play a key role in shaping safe digital habits and supporting young people in keeping a balance between the online and offline worlds.

The project comprises two main tasks:

Workshops for students in grades 6–8 of all 5 primary schools in Reda. Five two-hour workshops are planned in each of the 54 classes, on the following themes:

1. “Logged in or locked in? How not to fall into the digital spiral”

Prevention goal: recognising early signs of addiction to screens and algorithms; understanding how technology affects dopamine and emotions.

Description: young people analyse examples of behaviour leading to loss of control (constant notifications, compulsive scrolling, chats with AI). Participants learn how to set realistic limits on time online, recognise the emotions that accompany device use, and return to offline activities.

Preventive effect: greater awareness of one’s own digital habits and stronger self-regulation skills.

1. “The illusion of closeness. When artificial empathy replaces real relationships”

Prevention goal: preventing emotional dependence on AI, games and virtual friends by developing emotional and social competences.

Description: participants learn the concept of “artificial empathy” and how to distinguish simulated emotion from authentic contact. The discussion shows how overusing virtual companions can lead to isolation and weakened peer relationships.

Preventive effect: greater emotional awareness and a stronger appreciation of real human contact as a protective factor against emotional dependence on technology.

1. “On safety and emotional traps online”

Prevention goal: developing attitudes that protect against manipulation, grooming, over-exposure online and being drawn into toxic digital relationships.

Description: participants learn to recognise risky and toxic behaviour in online contact. They work with real examples of fake accounts, AI-generated messages and deepfakes, and discuss strategies for emotional protection and responding to worrying situations.

Preventive effect: stronger digital and emotional competences; preventing addiction to toxic online relationships.

1. “My digital shadow – how technology takes control of my image”

Prevention goal: fostering responsibility for one’s own behaviour online and counteracting addiction to self-presentation, likes and social comparison.

Description: young people analyse how social media amplify the need for approval and dopamine “rewards”. They map their digital footprint, learning to manage their image consciously, and discuss how the pressure to be perfect leads to stress and dependence on other people’s opinions.

Preventive effect: reduced susceptibility to addiction to online popularity and a healthier sense of self-worth.

1. “Disconnect to truly be. Preventing digital overload”

Prevention goal: developing the ability to balance time online and offline, and preventing behavioural addiction through the practice of mindfulness and recovery.

Description: the workshop teaches conscious use of technology and creating personal “digital balance” rituals. Young people practise simple breathing and mindfulness techniques and learn strategies for limiting FOMO and information stress.

Preventive effect: strengthening mental and emotional resilience to the pressures of the digital world.