A movement called "sober curious" is helping some people rethink their relationship with alcohol, making them more mindful of when they choose to drink rather than imbibing out of habit.

One result of this is a rise of non-alcoholic (NA) bottle shops popping up across the country. Erin Flavin is the owner of two such shops in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. Like many people, she realized she was drinking too much during the pandemic.

"Happy hour got earlier and earlier each day, especially with how stressful it was homeschooling a seven-year-old and having a three-year-old run around," Flavin said. 

At Flavin’s business, Marigold, one can find THC and mushroom-infused drinks. One of her most popular products are her adaptogen drinks, which contain herbs that support the body’s ability to deal with stress. 

"I’m 46, and I actually want to know how I feel. I’m learning how to deal with my problems in a healthy way," Flavin said. 

According to a NCSolutions Consumer Sentiment Survey in January, drinking culture in the U.S. is changing. More than 40% of Americans said they wanted to drink less this year. Around 84% of people still feel drinking is a big part of America’s culture, which is down 9% from 2023. 

A USA Today article shows that North Dakota and Wisconsin are two states with the highest rate of binge-drinking, with 25.99% of people 12 and older reporting binge-drinking in the past month. Millennial Kelsey Bank, a Wisconsin native, echoes that study. 

"The drinking culture there was so much like a party every weekend. You go out every night. You have fun with your friends," Bank said. 

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Bank said she typically avoided alcohol during the week but was slugging about 10 drinks per weekend, which is considered alcohol abuse.

"I think the sober curious movement kind of helped me take those steps to first changing my relationship with alcohol," Bank said. "At six months, I’ve lost 20 pounds. I don't need my medication for blood pressure, and it's just made such a difference in my health journey. And like how I feel inside and out."

Bank said she’d once completed Dry January. This year she decided to start early and commit to being sober curious after January concluded. By the third week she was ready for a bloody mary or a beer, but health podcasts and books about being sober curious helped her stick to her plan. 

"It can be kind of hard to get out of your shell without alcohol as that social lubricant. So, it took me some time to kind of figure out how to be myself without alcohol," Bank said. 

Market research company Fior Markets estimates that the global non-alcoholic beverage market will grow from $923 million to $1.7 billion by 2028.

But alcohol misuse is far from over. 

"The most prevalent substance use that we treat is still alcohol," said Lydia Burr, director of clinical services at Hazelden Betty Ford in Saint Paul. 

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Across the country, Burr says there are a lot of people with opiate-use disorders or issues with marijuana. She says substance use is on the rise across the board, no matter the person’s age. 

"I think it's really important that people know that there's no safe amount of alcohol to consume. There's no healthy amount to consume," Burr said. "But that doesn't mean that consuming it automatically means somebody has a substance-use disorder. The vast majority of the population is able to consume alcohol without negative consequence."

Although many people use substances to deal with their anxiety, depression or other mental health issues, Burr says there are solutions to treat or manage these problems, like evidence-based practices and coping skills.  

"There is help out there," Burr said. "Treatment doesn't necessarily mean residential 24-hour treatment. There is some form of treatment and help that can fit with their lives. We're looking to meet people where they're at."

Zero Proof Nation tracks non-alcoholic beverage shops and bars across the world. Laura Silverman was over a decade sober when she created the site in 2019. 

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"There were no nonalcoholic bottle shops in 2019," Silverman said. "Every day the number is slightly different, but we're getting close to 300 fully alcohol-free establishments."

Silverman prides herself on helping people find NA options wherever they go, because for so long, she didn’t have that option. 

"People are finding that they don't want to drink as much anymore," Silverman said, adding that NA drinks are not just for people who are completely sober. "But people who are getting older, or they have young kids, they're athletes, and they're training for a marathon or something important in their lives. 

"A lot of people have important jobs where alcohol isn't conducive to functioning and being on top of their game. And of course, there are people who are very much into wellness."

Silverman recalled being sober in her 20s over a decade ago. She said it made her feel like the odd man out when ordering a soda at the bar. But NA beverages are different. They allow people to fit in with the American drinking culture, whether they are fully sober or not. 

"It really is a great time for people to explore their sober curiosity or to explore this whole new world of beverages," Silverman said. 

Russia increasingly looks toward artificial intelligence (AI) to address deficiencies in its battlefield capabilities and capacities that the invasion of Ukraine has exposed, according to experts. 

"Russian futurists, Russian technologists, Russian developers are envisioning this slow evolution away from larger human involvement to where humans are going to be involved as little as possible," Samuel Bendett, adjunct senior fellow in the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), told Fox News Digital. 

"Some of those statements were made prior to Russia's disastrous invasion of Ukraine and Russia's conduct in this war, which is very much manpower intensive… but this is something that the Russian military is keeping sort of on the horizon," he said. 

Bendett in his paper for CNAS argued that Russia’s keenness to adopt AI could lead the country to take greater risks as it seeks to catch up with the West. He relied on public statements, announcements and analysis of Russian-language media to develop his paper, which looks at major developments in robotics and AI spaces and as Russia seeks an "intellectualized" military that makes semiautomated decisions. 

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"Such sources offer a glimpse into Russian deliberations and debates on the role and utility of AI on the modern battlefield and help analysts understand what the Russians emphasize in terms of AI research and development," Bendett wrote. 

The greatest concern that Western officials may have regarding Russia’s intended use for AI is the integration of AI systems with its nuclear command, a goal that Bendett argues is on top of Russia’s list. 

While the main, immediate goal for Russia is to use AI for data collection, analysis and "situational awareness," the military forces ultimately seek to integrate AI in decision-making, including when and how to deploy nuclear weapons. 

"Repeated statements by officials within the Ministry of Defense and the government point to AI as a data analysis and decision-making tool," Bendett said. "Therefore, nuclear forces are going to be part of that larger effort to integrate some of these more advanced technologies alongside analysis and understanding done by human operators."

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In his paper, Bendett expands on this point, saying that AI would allegedly help Russian officials "in the event the political leadership is incapacitated and no longer can make crucial decisions." The system, called Perimeter, is an automatic nuclear weapons control system from the Cold War that played into the nation's doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), but the system remains functional today, which Bendett notes as an indication of where Russia's thinking lays. 

"The system’s continued existence today implies the preference for semiautomatic, instead of fully automated, systems to meet the challenges of enormous stress, the pressure to understand the unfolding scenario in real time, and the possible lack of relevant information, along with emotions that affect human decision makers under stress," Bendett writes. 

"By removing the pressure for Russian leaders to decide whether to launch a nuclear attack on a short timeline under pressure, Perimeter is meant to reduce the risk of miscalculation on both sides and to avoid wrong decisions with enormous consequences," he added. 

One of the primary concerns he raises is that while Russia’s views on AI align with those of other major powers, it may lack the ability to adopt those systems, especially in light of Western sanctions and export controls. 

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In his paper, Bendett listed a number of factors that could otherwise impede Russia’ development and adoption of AI technology, namely the exodus of tech personnel at the start of the Ukraine invasion, lack of access to parts and data, and the impacted economy as major stumbling blocks Russia faces in its AI ambitions. 

Bendett argued that Russia’s desperation to keep up with the West could drive officials to lean on China, Moscow's increasingly close ally, to fill the gaps in development. 

"One of the things we have discovered with the imposition of sanctions, starting in March of 2022, is that Russia can evade many of the sanctions and can actually acquire what it needs through willing partners or through partners who are unaware of certain transactions," Bendett explained during an interview with Fox News Digital. 

"This, of course, involves microelectronics, involves certain hardware and software solutions: As long as Russia maintains open trade and relationships with countries like China and India and a number of other states around the world, it is probably going to have access to certain technologies, certain concepts which are necessary for its high-tech development and in particular for artificial intelligence development," he argued.

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Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin’s Playbook," told Fox News Digital that AI remains one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s "top priorities," with annual reports on progress in development and implementation. 

"Putin once stated that the nation that controls AI will control the world," Koffler said. "His concern is that if the West leads in AI, Western values and concepts will be embedded in it and not Russia’s values." 

"Putin believes that Russia will lose sovereignty if it loses competition in AI," she added. "Putin once compared AI with nuclear weapons, and he estimates that AI will follow the trajectory of nuclear weapons development – once people realize what enormous danger AI represents if it is not managed properly, there will be attempts to control it."

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Koffler claimed that Putin has indirectly acknowledged the U.S. as the frontrunner on AI development, citing Elon Musk’s Neuralink as proof that the billionaire will "do what he thinks must be done" to advance technology. 

Bendett and Koffler both lamented the difficulty in fully assessing Russia’s progress with AI due to the lack of "trustworthy intelligence" and the overreliance on statements from the Russian government, which Koffler warned are often "exaggerations."