Algorithmically Assisting Early Child Development; Propagation of Gambling Through Digital Devices

Digital technologies such as the internet, computers, and smartphones are able to connect the world such that people can talk to each other no matter where they are in the globe or simply look up any question they might have and have it answered. Yet at the same time various indicators of health, both physical and psychological, have deteriorated year after year in every age group and every part of the world according to agencies such as the WHO. This decline in health is also accompanied by a rise in various problems for people such as depression, suicide, chronic health conditions, and general unhappiness and dissatisfaction. My problem frame which both my technical paper and my STS research paper aim to address is the decline of mental in physical health, by examining different aspects digital technologies that are contributing to said decline. My STS research paper looks at how gambling has become more easily accessible through computers and mobile devices, which has made it easier for people to become addicted to it, negatively affecting their mental and financial health. My technical report details an application I helped develop that would help children and adolescents engage in more physical activity, with the aim of reducing the chance of them developing negative health conditions. My technical report addresses the work I did over the summer of 2024, working as a software development intern in order to build an application for early child development. In my report, I show my findings on how multiple sources, such as the UN, agree that there is a global drop the amount of physical activity done by children and adolescents, which is negatively correlated with cell phone use; furthermore, this has also led to an increase in the presence of chronic health conditions, earlier deaths, as well as worse mental health overall. The application being developed is meant to somewhat remedy this problem by allowing teachers and parents to easily give their children a short list of activities, ranging from painting or walking to pushups, squats, or running; furthermore, during development we were in constant talk with teachers and health professionals who provided feedback on ways the application could be improved. My STS thesis examines a few cases where gambling has become more widespread via various computer and mobile applications. Specifically, my paper discusses the rise of gambling in videogames, sports, as well as elections. Videogames that contain gambling generate much larger revenues than those who do not, and therefore publishers are incentivized to include these sorts of mechanics in their games. Sports gambling is an enormous industry that was only legalized in 2018, yet as of 2025 the average monthly wages combined across all platforms are in the billions. Election gambling was legalized in 2024 and could potentially pose another threat to the democratic process. Year over year, the number of people gambling as a whole, as well as the number of problem gamblers have continued to rise. With this, there has similarly been a decrease in people’s financial and mental health. According to my research, people that engage in gambling are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, as well as other negative health effects. Similarly, they are also more likely to default on their debt, and miss payments, or take out debt consolidation loans. Since the legalization of sports gambling, the number of calls to gambling call centers has nearly doubled every year since, and an increasing number of callers are minors or young adults. Both the technical solution and STS research paper have been unable to majorly contribute to a solution for the problem of decreasing mental and physical health. The technical solution is still under development and is yet to be deployed or tested. The STS research problem is similarly too complex to be easily solved, but various solutions that have worked in the past, such as banning gambling advertisements, stricter age verification, and limiting access to gambling applications on mobile devices would all see a decrease in the amount of gambling. In either case, the topic of how computers and mobile devices can impact a society’s health should be further studied. I would like to thank my STS professor, Caitlin Wylie, as well as my fellow classmates for helping me build and proofread my thesis. I would also like to thank George Prusiyski for guiding me through my internship and helping me learn the technical skills needed to develop the aforementioned application.