CONNECT: What Tech Crowds Out

What Tech Crowds Out

As more of life moves onto screens, we are seeing the effects all around us: in declining test scores, in shorter attention spans, and in a broader erosion of comprehension, critical thinking, and connection, especially for young people. The headlines around reading and attention are some of the clearest signs of this right now, but they point to a larger issue. As we speed into the AI age, the question is becoming not just what tech gives us, but what it pushes out.

This conversation will explore what the research shows about how technology shapes attention and development, and how those shifts show up in the way young people read, learn, think, and relate to one another. It will connect the more visible signs of the problem, like declines in reading and comprehension, to the deeper capacities underneath them. It will also look at the other side of the picture: the rise of BookTok, celebrity book clubs, and renewed interest in reading as signals that people are still hungry for depth, meaning, and connection.

At its core, this panel is about what technology crowds out, why that matters, and what we want to build back. We’ll hear from voices across research, journalism, and culture on what is at stake if these capacities continue to erode, and what it would take to create a culture where focus, deep thinking, and connection can thrive.

About World Mental Health Day Festival

The Project Healthy Minds World Mental Health Day Festival is where visionaries, thought leaders, culture-markers, and advocates gather to celebrate and shape the future of mental health. The Festival convenes the most consequential leaders from across public policy, media, culture, sports, business, and the research worlds for groundbreaking conversations about the future of mental health. From headline-making mainstage talks featuring luminaries like Jonathan Haidt and Katie Couric, to cause-driven fitness programming like mindful fitness classes led by Kendall Toole and Kelsey Wells, celebratory runs with Timm Chuisano, Hellah Sidibe and Raymond Braun, and Equinox meditation experiences, this is where the world gathers for World Mental Health Day.

About Project Healthy Minds

Project Healthy Minds is a next-gen mental health tech non-profit dedicated to expanding access to mental health services across the country. Project Healthy Minds is building the world’s first free digital mental health marketplace, destigmatizing mental health by partnering with culture-makers, and improving access and affordability by advocating for innovative workplace investments in employee mental health. The non-profit is focused on closing the treatment gap in America by attacking these primary barriers to care: stigma, discoverability, and affordability. Project Healthy Minds’ programmatic initiatives serve more than 200,000 people annually.