Observatory - Digital Sustainability Hub

News & Highlights

Fractured Reality: Can Europe Reclaim Its Information Space?

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre report “Fractured Reality: How Democracy Can Win the Global Struggle Over the Information Space” provides a powerful diagnosis of the challenges facing democratic systems in the digital age. At the core of the analysis lies the fragmentation of shared reality, driven by platform dynamics, disinformation, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence. The report frames the information space as a contested domain, shaped by economic incentives and geopolitical competition. This article examines its key insights and reflects on their implications for digital sustainability and democratic resilience in Europe.

April 10, 2026

News & Highlights

Why Teen Social Media Bans May Miss the Point

As governments debate whether to ban social media for teenagers under sixteen, a new commentary in Nature Health urges caution. Psychologist Sander van der Linden argues that while online harms are real and deserve serious attention, the scientific evidence does not support sweeping prohibitions. Blanket bans, he contends, risk replacing evidence informed policy with moral panic, offering symbolic reassurance rather than effective solutions. Instead of postponing young people’s digital lives, policymakers should focus on education, resilience, and regulatory accountability. The debate, he suggests, is not about denying risks, but about responding to them in ways that are proportionate, rigorous, and sustainable.

March 3, 2026

News & Highlights

Human–AI Interaction and Cognitive Sustainability: Why the 3R Principle Matters

The rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence is reshaping everyday cognitive practices, from writing and searching to decision making. While much of the debate has focused on efficiency and productivity, less attention has been paid to the long term implications for the human brain and for cognitive sustainability. A recent comment published in npj Artificial Intelligence by Rossi et al. 2026 brings this issue to the foreground, arguing that the way humans interact with AI systems can actively shape brain plasticity, agency and responsibility. By proposing the so called 3R principle, the authors offer a concise framework to distinguish between passive reliance on AI and forms of interaction that preserve meaning making and long term cognitive health.

January 28, 2026

Insights

Epistemia: When AI Fluency Replaces Grounded Knowledge

In the current landscape of artificial intelligence, large language models generate text that is plausible but not necessarily grounded in verifiable knowledge. This phenomenon raises a critical concern: when users mistake linguistic fluency for understanding, they risk embracing epistemia, a degenerated form of knowledge that prioritizes surface coherence over rigorous verification (Quattrociocchi et al. 2025). This post explores how such epistemic risks arise from misplaced trust in generative AI, why grounding matters, and how recent scholarship and public discourse illuminate pathways toward more responsible and critically aware engagement with AI systems.

January 14, 2026

News & Highlights

Beyond Green IT: MISQ Calls for a Broader Vision of Digital Sustainability

The latest issue of MIS Quarterly dedicates its Editor’s Comments to a crucial question for the future of the digital society. In her editorial “Beyond Green IT: From Digital Sustainability to Responsible Technology”, Editor in Chief Susan Brown argues that sustainability must move beyond a narrow focus on environmental efficiency. The rise of artificial intelligence, new digital infrastructures, and widespread platformisation require a broader and more integrated perspective. Brown highlights how environmental, social, governance, and human dimensions must be considered together if digital technologies are to support long term prosperity, social wellbeing, and equitable access to opportunity.

January 2, 2026

News & Highlights

Simulating Judgment: What LLMs Can’t Truly Decide and Why It Matters for Digital Sustainability

A recent scientific study by Loru et al. (2025) provides a startling insight into how large language models (LLMs) simulate human judgment. Their research highlights that these models, while impressively fluent, do not actually reason like humans; they instead rely on statistical patterns to generate plausible-sounding “judgments.” For the Digital Sustainability Hub, whose mission bridges understanding, awareness, and action, this raises crucial questions: What are the ethical and societal implications of deploying AI systems that can mimic decision-making without true deliberation? And how should we govern the integration of such systems in high-stakes domains like law, healthcare, or public policy?

December 30, 2025

Insights

China’s “Hundred Model War”: Understanding the Digital Sustainability of Its LLM Strategy

China’s frenetic “Hundred Model War” in the large language model space reveals a unique intersection of state power, technological ambition, and ideological strategy. As dozens of domestic actors race to build powerful LLMs, the country pursues not only technical independence but also narrative sovereignty. This post examines both the promising digital sustainability aspects of China’s LLM ecosystem and its systemic vulnerabilities, especially around governance, resource inefficiency, and ideological alignment.

December 27, 2025

Insights

Shaping AI’s Impact on Work: Why Outcomes Depend on Policy and Context

The labor market effects of AI are complex, and simple narratives of mass job loss or automatic job creation miss the bigger picture. To assess the real impact, we must consider interacting factors such as macroeconomic conditions, institutional frameworks, and the time horizon used for evaluation. This post synthesizes recent empirical and policy oriented work to show why AI’s effects on jobs are context dependent, often heterogeneous across sectors and countries, and amenable to shaping through policy choices. Practical implications follow for employers, educators, and policymakers seeking orderly, fair transitions.

December 22, 2025

News & Highlights

From Bias Mitigation to Community Centered Vision Systems: A Holistic Turn in Computer Vision

In a field where fairness often defines the scope of ethical discussions about computer vision the recent work by leading researchers shifts the focus beyond bias correction toward a broader vision of responsibility and community-centered practices. The paper by Gebru and Denton argues that ensuring equity in machine vision systems is not enough if the frameworks, processes, and institutions that build them remain unchanged. Their call for a holistic rethinking of computer vision research emphasizes structural reforms including participatory methods, community involvement, meaningful accountability, and awareness of social harms. For practitioners and researchers in digital sustainability, this represents a profound evolution: from mitigating bias to fostering systems aligned with justice, dignity and collective well-being.

December 20, 2025

Insights

The Real Sustainability Test for Social Media: Rethinking Engagement and Attention

Social media are not just platforms for sharing content, they are complex socio technical systems whose long term viability depends on environmental, social, and economic factors. Evaluating the sustainability of social platforms means looking beyond data center emissions, to include cognitive load, mental health, business model fragility, and governance transparency. Recent empirical work shows measurable harms for some user groups, while other studies highlight large heterogeneity in individual responses. This post synthesizes those findings, and offers pragmatic directions for designers, policymakers, and platform operators who want social media to be resilient, equitable, and sustainable.

December 18, 2025

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