The average American spent over seven hours per day staring at screens in 2025. We know it's making us anxious, distracted, and disconnected. We know the dopamine loops are engineered. We've all sworn to spend less time scrolling. And yet here we are, checking notifications while someone talks to us at dinner.
The promise of dumb phones has always been tantalizing—return to the Nokia 3310 era, reclaim your attention, live in the moment. But the reality hits hard the first time you need to respond to a Slack message, check your calendar, or call an Uber. Modern life is wired for smartphones, and opting out means real friction.
What if AI could bridge that gap?
The Light Phone and the MCP Revolution
The Light Phone is a minimalist phone designed to do as little as possible—calls, texts, music, and not much else. It's the platonic ideal of a dumb phone for people who want out. But it's also a hard sell if you occasionally need to coordinate with coworkers, respond to urgent messages, or access information on the go.
Enter Poke AI, an SMS-based AI assistant that connects to your tools through MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. Instead of opening Slack, tapping through menus, and getting lost in unread channels, you text Poke: "Any urgent messages in #engineering?" It checks, summarizes, and lets you respond—all over SMS.
The magic is in MCP servers. These are standardized connectors that let AI access external services—Slack, calendars, email, task managers, databases. Poke can read your Slack threads, check your schedule, pull up documents, or trigger automations, all through text messages. You can even set up recurring reminders: "Text me every second Thursday to take out recycling."
The Problem I Actually Want to Solve
I've tried limiting screen time. I've turned off notifications. I've buried distracting apps in folders. None of it sticks because the real issue isn't the phone—it's the access. I need Slack sometimes. I need my calendar. I need to check on a deployment or respond to a question. The moment I unlock my phone for one of those things, the algorithm has me.
With Poke and a Light Phone, I could handle those genuinely urgent moments without ever opening an app. Text the AI, get the answer, respond if needed, and put the phone down. No feed to scroll. No red badges. No infinite pull-to-refresh.
AI as a Gatekeeper, Not a Gateway
The irony isn't lost on me: using AI to escape technology. But the key difference is intent. Poke doesn't feed you content. It doesn't predict what you might want to see next. It waits for you to ask, then answers the question and stops.
This is AI as a gatekeeper—a layer that handles the digital errands so you can stay in the physical world. As more MCP connectors get built, the scope expands. Check your bank balance. Book a ride. Order groceries. Respond to email. All through SMS, all without a screen designed to hold your attention.
The Not-So-Distant Future
In 2025, we're just beginning to see what's possible. Poke is early. MCP is still growing. But the trajectory is clear: AI will make it possible to interact with the digital world without living in it.
Imagine a dumb phone in your pocket that feels as capable as a smartphone—not because it has apps, but because it has an assistant that can access everything on your behalf. You send a text. It handles the rest. You get your answer and move on with your day.
We've spent the last fifteen years building technology that demands our constant attention. Maybe the next fifteen will be about building technology that respects it.
The tools are here. The question is whether we're ready to let go.