Isolation as social issue.
Isolation is possibly the single biggest issue facing modern humanity.
Recent data from HBR shows how AI usage has shifted from generative creative content to emotional companionship - people are turning to bots for emotional connection, over humans.
Other data shows how Gen Z are more connected yet less connected than any prior generation of people, and the huge scale of issues it's creating. Check out the work from Zoe Scaman and The Akin.
And other research shows that loneliness and isolation is just as bad as smoking. In fact, fewer people smoking is causing less socialising.
Why do I rank it above other issues like climate change?
Because isolation isn't just about loneliness, it prevents us from working together as society to tackle systemic issues that we can't solve individually. The fracturing of society is in part due to isolation and individualism.
I've been an accidental community builder for years, mostly out of my own feelings of being isolated, to try and create spaces where those of us who don't have easy access to professional bonds can come together.
But it needs to be more than accidental, creating connections and peer support within our industry will become more essential, as more find themselves forced into self-employment.
We all have an obligation to support and encourage connection and community.
Especially hirers.
We’ll start to see businesses who want to invest in their freelance network, to move from little black book, to something more, something meaningful, something sustainable.
Organisations who actually want to commit to their workforce, not just lipservice.
And we'll see the collective, cultural and commercial benefits of it too.
Here's to a more emotionally connected future of work.
Sources:
https://zoescaman.substack.com/p/the-solitude-generation
https://hbr.org/2025/04/how-people-are-really-using-gen-ai-in-2025
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/loneliness-has-same-risk-as-smoking-for-heart-disease
https://www.leapers.co/resources/guide-to/dealing-with-loneliness-when-freelancing
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154625000440