Digital Wellbeing Is The Path To Reclaim Agency In An AI Post-Capitalist World - Caitlin Krause

Dec 23, 2025

Caitlin Krause, an author and educator at Stanford and the University of Oregon, dives into the importance of digital wellbeing in a post-capitalist world. She argues that intentional design in XR can foster genuine connections, challenging the notion of a digital detox. With a focus on dignity-first design, Caitlin explores how loneliness can prompt meaningful human contact. The conversation branches into the implications of AI on human purpose and the need for relationship-centered values, urging a shift toward more supportive digital environments.

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INSIGHT

Intention Over Detox

Digital wellbeing rejects a binary "digital detox" view and instead matches attention to authentic intention.
Caitlin Krause argues intentional design can make digital spaces dignified and life-enhancing.

INSIGHT

XR Needs A Mountain Of Investment

Building major XR infrastructure may require collective, multi-hundred-billion investment like early AI.
Rony Abovitz compares XR's stack-building to the cumulative investment that enabled today's AI breakthroughs.

ANECDOTE

AR Book Delayed By Snowstorm

Caitlin recalled meeting Charlie at an MIT Media Lab event where his AR-enabled book failed to arrive due to a snowstorm.
The story highlights early AR publishing experiments and their logistical fragility.

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Caitlin Krause, author of Digital Wellbeing, argues that intentional design unlocks genuine connection within virtual spaces. Drawing on her teaching at Stanford and the University of Oregon, she's explored how XR environments can foster asynchronous connection and ambient awareness for people who crave belonging without hyper-social performance. Her framework rejects the "digital detox" model entirely—instead advocating for dignity-first design where users match attention with authentic intention.

The hosts debate the deeper question: what happens to human purpose when AI handles all labor? Rony Abovitz frames this as the "asymmetry of design"—it's easy to build addictive tech, hard to build wellbeing tech. Caitlin counters that we may return to the original meaning of "amateur" (from amor, "to love"), where humans find meaning through play, creativity, and what Harvard's lifespan study confirms: quality of relationship and presence. The conversation spirals from platform ethics to post-work society to what first principles we should use when designing XR.

5 Key Takeaways from Caitlin:

Loneliness is a biological prompt to find another human—not a void to fill with endless content. XR can foster genuine forms of connection without requiring hyper-social performance.
Dignity-first design unlocks freedom, invention, and agency. When digital spaces prioritize user agency over engagement metrics, people report feeling like they "got their life back."
Science will soon prove what we already know about fractal patterns in nature and digital signals. The key is designing digital experiences that resonate with how humans biologically thrive.
The "middle path" between nature and digital is both/and. Gamers building entire lives in virtual worlds can be healthy when those worlds offer creativity, belonging, and meaningful challenge.
The post-labor economy needs a reset in literacy and values. When AI outperforms human workers, purpose shifts from survival to what makes you feel alive—maker culture, digital fab labs, hands-on creation, and "amateur" pursuits driven by love.

In the News: Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX close the $50 billion TikTok spin-off deal. Meta cuts Reality Labs by 30%, but CTO Andrew Bosworth says it's moving to AI. The TCL glasses demo 70 grams of lighter, more advanced XR hardware than Ray-Ban Meta—proving that smart spending beats mega-spend.

This episode is brought to you by Zappar, creators of Mattercraft—the leading visual development environment for building immersive 3D web experiences for mobile headsets and desktop. Build smarter at mattercraft.io.

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