Smartphones and Generative AI in Digital Cognition: A Narrative Review of Convergences, Divergences, and Implications for Human Agency

Abstract

Background: Smartphones and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) are increasingly integrated into everyday life, influencing information access, digital interaction, and cognitive tasks. While problematic smartphone use and cognitive offloading are well studied, GenAI introduces newer forms of cognitive delegation that warrant comparison. Objective: This narrative review examines convergences and divergences between smartphone- and GenAI-mediated cognitive processes, focusing on cognitive offloading, attention, reliance, self-regulation, and human agency. Review approach: Interdisciplinary literature from psychology, artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and education was narratively reviewed and compared. The aim was to integrate relevant evidence rather than provide a systematic or exhaustive synthesis. Synthesis: Smartphones primarily support connectivity, information access, and digitally mediated attention, whereas GenAI extends technological assistance toward reasoning, synthesis, and content generation. Despite important differences, both may redistribute cognitive effort between individuals and digital systems, with potential implications for self-regulation and human agency. Conclusions: Smartphones and GenAI are distinct technologies with partly overlapping but also technology-specific effects. Further empirical research is needed to determine which forms of cognitive offloading and reliance are shared across technologies and their implications for human agency.