It's a real buddy system.
A group of 9th graders from Long Island won a highly competitive contest by lowering social media for teens by designing a “buddybot” AI program to support digital detoxification.
“That's something we all experienced very firsthand,” said Andrew Langer Dargengo of Chaminade, part of the five-man championship team in the high school.
“I've had some days when the screen time was terrible. I don't even want to say numbers,” Andrew posted. “It's something I want to change personally for myself and for the whole community around us.”
They recently crowned the champion of the “Medical Marvel” competition that the Feinstein Institute in Northwell does for medical research. It created an approach that “mitigates the negative social media impact” on peers for over 180 LI and New York City students.
Top politicians like Gov. Kathy Hochul are pushing this concept more than concerns of harm from teenage target algorithms.
“I felt that using social media against social media was the best,” team member Mateosolis said of the project he developed from mid-December to February.
First-year Chaminade students created an AI chatbot with the twist of being supportive to get away from the screen.
“It took about a week to code,” said Christopher Cobery, a designated engineer for a student who has been coding since the age of 10, about his valuable “buddybot.”
“This is a very simple system that identifies 400 plus keywords and incorporates a response to them.”
Interactive ChatGpt-Esque AI when users across social media are urged to “Don't forget to take a deep breath, you're not alone.”
“We also work for ourselves, so we have ideas about what works,” added Solis.
Serious screen time
Rather than speculating based on the team's personal experience, we surveyed nearly 350 Chaminade students about excessive use of social media.
“Around 60% of students reported that social media had a negative impact on their sleep schedules and mental health,” said team member Taimiranda.
In addition to developing a “buddybot” and writing a paper on the effects of social media on youth, students plan to design subsequent apps where AI could be paired. Outlining what it would do was a large part of their victory presentation.
“I really thought we could start with the app itself to launch an attack on all these social media apps,” added Miranda. “So we can attract students to what they already do without harming them.”
The “Media Mindful” app developed in this way – the boys agreed to make it happen using a $1,800 first place prize money, but it works by creating a layered system of incentives so you don't scroll too much.
The ideal test drive is at Mineola Catholic School, where the lowest screen time classes win pizza parties.
“It's like a competitive edge, as you can get from video games,” Solis said.
As for the team itself, we've practiced what they've preached.
Miranda has earned 100 revenue grades in tests and papers since cutting phone use, and Runje Dargento, whose parents continue him about screen time, recently said he has “not screamed.”
Covelli boasted that she had never been so sucked into social media, but Solis also realized the benefits of breathing fresh air.
“I feel like I have more energy and I actually gave up on Tiktok for Lent,” he said. “My parents sometimes say, 'You look a little happy today.' ”
