Research Structure & Sources ↓
1. Introduction
- Problem: perceived AI saturation + ad clutter → authenticity erosion
- Aim: link authenticity goals → AI-authorship/saturation → detox discontinuance
- Roadmap: framework + short evidence box
2. Conceptual Framework: From Authenticity Erosion to Disengagement
2.1 Authenticity as a consumer goal
2.2 AI-authorship + perceived AI saturation → authenticity erosion
2.3 Detox as a discontinuance journey (control-restoration response)
3. Evidence: Screen time can go down
- RCT: intentional reduction is feasible (short-term)
- Macro trend context: stabilization/decline supports plausibility at scale
- Note rebound risk without structural change
4. Conclusion
- Why “going analog” is a rational control strategy under perceived inauthenticity
Abstract
This paper analyzes how AI authorship and AI saturation change perceptions of authenticity, particularly when authenticity is a key consumer goal tied to control, connection, and virtue. When users believe content is AI-generated, they perceive it as less authentic, which can foster negative attitudes. In response, digital detox appears to be a control-restoration strategy that leads to reduced platform use. Empirical evidence supports the feasibility of reducing screen time across controlled and emerging global trends. However, sustained change is likely to depend on structural interventions, and future research should test the direct link between AI saturation beliefs and discontinuance behaviour.
At the population level, data indicate that the average daily time spent on social media worldwide peaked in 2023 at 151 minutes and, by 2025, decreased by 6.6% to 141 minutes, a level last observed in 2018. This is the first decline since records began in 2012.
The human need for authenticity supports the hypothesis that attention saturation from AI-slop has led to the digital detox movement and the analog revival, resulting in a reduction in social media screen time.
Authenticity goals → Perceived AI authorship / Saturation → Overload & Skepticism → Detox → Analog Revival
1. Introduction
The modern feed increasingly feels less human: content is seen as automated, repetitive, and crowded by advertising. When authenticity is a consumer goal – connected to identity needs such as control, connection, and virtue – this change matters because authenticity is not seen as an abstract property, but as something users extract from experience. Under perceived AI authorship and AI saturation, authenticity judgments become more skeptical, and negative responses generalize beyond individual posts. In response, digital detox and analog disengagement can serve as intentional discontinuation strategies: tools to reclaim agency, restore self-regulation, and build healthier patterns. (Hanna Kahlert 2024)
This essay connects three ideas into a single explanatory chain: a goal-based approach to interpreting authenticity cues, AI authorship and saturation as authenticity-corrupting conditions, and detoxification as a control-restoration response. It then triangulates this mechanism with evidence that screen time can be reduced in practical settings and that aggregate usage trends can stabilize or decrease at a scale.
To understand how authenticity goals, AI saturation, and detox connect, we first examine how consumers pursue authenticity, what happens when AI erodes it, and how detox emerges as a behavioral response.
2. Conceptual Framework: From Authenticity Gain to Disengagement
2.1 Authenticity as a consumer goal
Authenticity in consumption can be understood as goal-related: it is judged not only by its purpose but also by what the consumer gains from the experience (e.g., reassurance, belonging, moral alignment). (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010, p. 853)
These goals show up as identity benefits (self-authentication outcomes) and structure how authenticity is constructed and judged across objects, brands, and experiences. Following this, consumers actively attend to and process authenticity cues as standards and information-processing strategies, as these cues serve as practical inputs for achieving the desired identity benefit. (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010, p. 841)
Across different situations, consumers tend to seek a small set of identity benefits -control, connection, and virtue. These goals help determine which cues to attend to and whether an experience feels authentic or inauthentic (Beverland & Farrelly, 2010, pp. 841-853).
Yet, what happens when the cues that signal authenticity are disrupted? As AI-generated content increases, perceptions of authenticity are changed, influencing how content is judged and experienced.
2.2 AI-authorship + perceived AI saturation → authenticity erosion
Perceived authorship is important in considering authenticity. When people believe that the content they consume is generated by artificial intelligence instead of “human-made,” its authenticity is perceived more negatively, even when the underlying message remains constant. This reduction in seemingly authentic content is associated with more negative responses, including weaker attitudes and behavioral intentions. (Kirk & Givi, 2024, Journal of Business Research, Study 1, 2; “The AI-authorship effect”).
Beyond cases of AI authorship, opinions about most AI-generated content shape how new content is perceived. When consumers believe that AI produces most content, doubt will generalize past specific messages and affect authenticity judgments more broadly. (Kirk & Givi, 2024, Study 3; “Boundary conditions and belief-based moderators”).
In this sense, authenticity erosion works at the level of perceived saturation, not only at the level of individual content evaluation. The authors manipulate beliefs about the prevalence of AI authorship, showing that authenticity judgments are influenced by users’ beliefs about the surrounding content, overriding verifiable production facts. (Kirk & Givi, 2024, Study 3; manipulation of “belief that most marketing communications are written by AI”)
Based on this, the concept of “AI slop” can be understood as a subjective perception of saturation and diminishing meaningfulness, rather than as an objective assessment of content quality. An important part of authenticity judgment is not if content is actually low quality, but whether the consumer senses it as mass-produced, automated, and lacking a human touch (Kirk & Givi, 2024; conceptual development preceding Study 3; discussion of belief-driven authenticity effects).
As perceived AI saturation increases, users may feel less control over their platform experiences. In response, many turn to digital detox to restore control and self-alignment.
2.3 Detox as a discontinuance journey
Digital detox can be understood as a process of platform discontinuation rather than a single act of ending. It spans multiple stages, including the decision to disengage, the experience of disengagement, and the rebuilding of use practices following the detox phase. This emphasizes withdrawal as a process, rather than a binary on/off behaviour. (Scheppe et al., Information Technology & People, qualitative findings; section “The digital detox journey”).
The direct motivations underlying detox adoption center on regaining control over one’s media use and engaging in self-reformation. Detox is not only avoidance behaviour but also an intentional attempt to realign everyday routines with personal values and self-regulatory goals (Scheppe et al., motivation analysis; section “Motivations for digital detox”).
During the detox phase, users report heightened awareness of their media habits, accompanied by both withdrawal-like experiences and perceived improvements in well-being and social presence, which shapes how users approach platform use after the detox period ends (Scheppe et al., experiential themes; section “Experiences during detox”).
Post-detox outcomes form into two main patterns: a boomerang return to prior usage levels or a shift toward conscious consumption, marked by more selective engagement. These patterns indicate that detox functions as a control-restoration discontinuation strategy, with heterogeneous long-term outcomes depending on how users reorganize their relationship with the platform after disengagement (Scheppe et al., section “Post-detox behaviors”; integrative discussion).
As detox begins, an additional reinforcement strategy of removing temptation starts with the introduction of analog technology. “Screentime fatigue and attention saturation are also drivers for the analogue revival. Two-thirds of consumers tried to cut down their screen time in Q1 2024, including turning to physical formats (21%) and in-person activities (23%).” (Hanna Kahlert (2024) – Analogue revival: A cultural pendulum swing)
In summary, when individuals perceive content as inauthentic, experience saturation with AI-generated content, or feel a loss of agency, they are more likely to disengage. It’s this drive to reclaim control that underpins their decision to step away, whether by temporarily disconnecting or scaling down their platform use.
Having established detox and analog revival, as a control-restoration strategy, it’s important to consider whether reductions in screen time are possible. Empirical evidence now sheds light on the feasibility of behavioral change.
3. Evidence box: Screen time can go down
Reductions in screen time are empirically possible under intentional disengagement. Evidence has shown that when individuals are instructed to limit phone use, measurable reductions in screen time can be achieved over a defined period, accompanied by improvements in well-being indicators. This establishes that reductions in digital engagement are not aspirational but behaviourally possible. (Pieh et al., randomized controlled trial; intervention and outcome analysis).
Moreover, at the population level, data indicate that the average daily time spent on social media worldwide peaked in 2023 at 151 minutes and, by 2025, decreased by 6.6% to 141 minutes, a level last observed in 2018.
This decline is the first time since 2012, when the study was conducted.
While this descriptive evidence does not explain underlying mechanisms, it supports the plausibility that time-on-platform is no longer increasing uniformly and that reductions can happen at scale. (Statista, Daily time spent on social networking by internet users worldwide).
Taken together, these findings support detox as a meaningful intervention, while also highlighting that sustained reductions in screen time likely require ongoing structural or habit-level changes to prevent rebound effects.
While these findings support detox as a possible discontinuation strategy, the mechanism treats AI slop as a perception and does not establish causality between AI saturation beliefs and detox; testing the link requires measuring saturation beliefs and using longitudinal or experimental designs.
4. Conclusion
This paper links perceived AI authorship and saturation to authenticity as goals and positions detox as a control-restoration response. Evidence from intervention research and global usage trends suggests that time spent on the platform may decrease, at least temporarily. Future work should directly test whether perceived AI saturation increases detox adoption and whether post-detox outcomes persist beyond the intervention window.
Core sources
- Scheppe, M. M., Seiffen, A. L., & Berndt, A. — Digital detox as a discontinuance journey. Information Technology & People. https://www.emerald.com/itp/article/38/8/119/1267289/Exploring-the-digital-detox-journey-among
- Beverland, M. B., & Farrelly, F. J. (2010). The quest for authenticity in consumption. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-13364-010
- Kirk, C. P., & Givi, J. — The AI-authorship effect and saturation belief framing. Journal of Business Research. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296324004880
- Fu, S., Li, H., Liu, Y., Pirkkalainen, H., & Salo, M. — Social media overload, exhaustion, and use discontinuance. Information Processing & Management. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306457320308025
- Pieh, C., et al. — Randomized controlled trial evidence of screen-time reduction. BMC Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11846175/
- Statista — Daily time spent on social networking by internet users worldwide. https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide
- Anna Sutton (2019) – Living the good life: A meta-analysis of authenticity, well-being, and engagement. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691930577X
- Hanna Kahlert (2024) – Analogue revival: A cultural pendulum swing. https://www.midiaresearch.com/reports/analogue-revival-a-cultural-pendulum-swing
