Technology, AI and Addictive Behaviors: Can They Be Treated?
Technology is becoming impossible to ignore, especially for younger generations. From social media and gaming platforms to increasingly personalized AI systems, many people now report difficulty disconnecting, concentrating without digital stimulation, or making everyday decisions without technological assistance.
At the same time, emotionally responsive AI systems are becoming more present in daily life. Some users report forming deep attachments to conversational agents, while others describe spending hours interacting with AI companions, sometimes at the expense of offline relationships, sleep, productivity, or well-being.
But when does heavy use become dependency? What are the warning signs? Can digital dependency actually be treated? And how are clinicians adapting to a world where technology is increasingly designed to capture attention and sustain engagement?
Join us for a timely conversation with specialists working at the forefront of research and treatment for digital addictions. Together, we will explore how social media, gaming platforms, and AI systems are reshaping attention, emotional regulation, autonomy, and everyday behavior.
Rather than relying on speculation or headlines, this discussion will focus on what psychiatry, clinical practice, and scientific research can tell us about problematic technology use, emerging treatment approaches, and what healthy relationships with technology may look like in the age of AI.
This discussion will explore emerging forms of digital dependency, including phenomena described in the scientific literature as problematic internet use (PIU), internet addiction (IA), internet gaming disorder (IGD), and potential AI-related addictive behaviors.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Emilio Giroldo Tazinaffo
Dr. Emilio Giroldo Tazinaffo is a psychiatrist specializing in behavioral and digital addictions. He serves as Co-coordinator of the Elibrè Program for Digital Addictions and is a psychiatrist supervisor and researcher at PRO-AMITI (Integrated Outpatient Clinic for Impulse Disorders) at the Institute of Psychiatry of the Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo Medical School (IPQ-HC-FMUSP), one of Latin America's leading centers for the treatment and study of behavioral addictions. He is a Full Member of the Brazilian Psychiatric Association (ABP) and a member of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Addictions (ISSBA).
Dr. Rodrigo Menezes Machado
Dr. Rodrigo Menezes Machado is a psychiatrist and one of Brazil's leading specialists in digital addiction treatment. He serves as Co-coordinator of the Elibrè Program for Digital Addictions and coordinates the Technological Addictions Group at the Institute of Psychiatry of the University of São Paulo Medical School General Hospital. He is also a researcher and collaborating psychiatrist at PRO-AMITI, one of Latin America's leading centers for the treatment and scientific study of behavioral addictions.
Moderator & Series Curator
Ana Catarina de Alencar
International Lawyer, Ethicist, PhD Researcher, and Resident Philosopher at The AI Collective
Ana Catarina de Alencar is an international lawyer and ethicist based in Paris whose work explores the societal impacts of emotionally responsive technologies and AI systems. She is a PhD researcher at the Université de Lille, where she investigates emotional AI, human autonomy, and digital well-being through an interdisciplinary lens combining law, ethics, philosophy, and neurobiology. She currently serves as Resident Philosopher at The AI Collective, where she curates and moderates conversations on AI, society, and human flourishing.
Topics We Will Explore
• When does technology use become addiction?
• Digital addiction: diagnosis, myth, or emerging public health challenge?
• The psychology of social media, gaming, and AI engagement
• Emotional attachment to AI companions and conversational agents
• The impact of technology on attention, autonomy, and emotional regulation
• Children, adolescents, and digital vulnerability
• Emerging treatment protocols for digital and behavioral addictions
• What healthy technology use looks like in an AI-mediated world
Whether you are a parent, educator, researcher, policymaker, clinician, or simply someone curious about your own relationship with technology, this conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from experts working on the front lines of digital addiction treatment.
📅 September 23, 2026
🕐 Time
San Francisco: 9:00 AM PDT
São Paulo: 1:00 PM BRT
London: 5:00 PM BST
Paris: 6:00 PM CEST
📍 Online Event
Free registration required.
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