The Attention Crisis: How leaders can fix focus and happiness in an AI Era - Psychologist Jonathan Haidt

As tech and AI transform productivity and free us from rote work, will humanity finally crack happiness? Maybe not, warns Jonathan Haidt. This social psychologist, NYU professor and bestselling author of The Anxious Generation has spent years studying the links between happiness, technology, and societal change. Unless key steps are taken, he says, the technologies transforming work and communication could pull humans further from a sense of meaning, connection and purpose, taking happiness even further from our grasps.

To progress on any big challenge ahead will depend on restoring focus, trust, and purpose. Haidt warns that AI and social media may be weakening all three—making intentional leadership more critical than ever. He shares research-backed insights that can help us better understand a fragmented, distracted world and the urgent challenge this brings to leaders running teams in a changing AI era.

Key Takeaways:

• Where happiness really comes from - and what people often misunderstand

• Understanding the attention crisis and what's contributing to it

• How AI and digital habits fragment attention and decision-making and undermine trust

• Simple practices and approaches to reclaim focus, connect with others and lead meaningful change more effectively

This interview was recorded in January 2026 at the Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

About this episode:
Read here - Transcript: https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader/episodes/jonathan-haidt-happiness-focus-habits-ai
Watch here - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXp43TMMAI

About this guest:
https://jonathanhaidt.com/
Books and initiatives referenced in this episode:
The Anxious Generation https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/
The Righteous Mind https://righteousmind.com/
The Happiness Hypothesis https://www.happinesshypothesis.com/
The Constructive Dialogue Institute www. constructivedialogue.org

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