Vitalik on "Digital Minimalism" in the AI Era: Reducing Dependence on Social Media and the Internet

on October 31, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published an article titled "Digital Minimalism," proposing that in the AI era, people should consciously reduce their dependence on social media, mobile internet, and website interfaces, thereby regaining control over their digital lives.

Vitalik shared three practices. First, he reduced his direct use of X, instead managing X, Bluesky, Farcaster, and Lens simultaneously through Firefly to avoid information interference from algorithmic recommendations. Second, he kept his phone on airplane mode by default for 100 consecutive days, connecting only via Wi-Fi, to minimize location data leakage and cultivate offline habits. Third, he began reducing reliance on websites and web applications, using command-line tools for some on-chain operations and leveraging AI to lower the barrier to entry.

Vitalik believes that websites and web applications pose privacy and security risks, while the development of local AI, offline applications, and modular tools allows users to operate computers through natural language, reducing dependence on complex platform interfaces.

He calls this trend "digital minimalism" and believes that AI not only improves how efficiently people use the internet but may also eliminate the need for the internet in many scenarios.