Over the past two decades, much of human experience has been digitised in the name of efficiency, immediacy and convenience. But has that promise really been fulfilled? The rise in mental health problems – particularly among teenagers — the erosion of social bonds, the decline of attention and certain cognitive abilities, the weakening of democratic systems, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure are among the consequences of a relationship with technology in which we are increasingly losing the ability to decide how and when we use it. Awareness of these costs is growing. Scientific and public health warnings are mounting, while legal proceedings and a succession of scandals are raising questions about the legitimacy of the major platforms. But the emergence of artificial intelligence marks a new phase: it expands the potential of technology and, with it, the scale of its risks. We are at a turning point. We can still redefine the place technology occupies in our lives and how it is developed and deployed – but the window of opportunity is narrowing.