Posted on: 31st October 2026, by Magrathea
As part of our 25th anniversary, we’ve spent some time reminiscing and some time thinking about what the next 25 years might bring.
But as it’s Halloween, we thought we’d consider the slightly scarier possibilities.
Naturally, we asked AI to help.
Perhaps that was our first mistake…
From opinionated appliances and endless subscriptions to the possibility that someone will still be saying “you’re on mute” in 2051, here are 25 things we hope the next 25 years don’t bring.
- AI rules the world 🤖:
We thought we’d get the obvious one out of the way first. - Passwords still exist:
It’s 2051. We’ve colonised Mars. And somewhere, a system is still asking for eight characters, a capital letter, a number and a special character. - Every phone call starts with “Is that really you?” 📞:
AI-generated voices get so convincing that answering the phone becomes a test of trust. - Your fridge knows more about you than your family:
It knows what you eat, when you eat it and exactly how often you open the door hoping something new has appeared. - AI attends meetings for us:
Sounds quite appealing, actually. - AI then schedules more meetings:
We knew there would be a catch. - We need passwords for our passwords:
See number 2. The nightmare continues. - Nobody remembers what a landline was:
“Wait… the phone was attached to the HOUSE?” - We finally achieve universal connectivity… and still can’t get Wi-Fi in that one room:
Some problems are apparently eternal. - Your car refuses to go anywhere because it needs an update:
Please do not switch off your vehicle. Estimated time remaining: 2 hours 47 minutes. - Everything becomes a subscription:
We’re not saying your kettle will require a monthly payment… but we’re not ruling it out. - Even the subscription needs a subscription:
“Upgrade to Kettle Premium Plus to unlock boiling.” - 🧑💻 ➡️ 💬 ➡️ 😀 👍 ❤️ 😂 🤷♀️:
Words become completely optional. - Your smart home develops opinions:
“No, you don’t need the heating on.” 🥶 - “Can you hear me?” survives another 25 years:
Some things may simply be beyond technological progress. - Our devices know what we want before we do:
Convenient? Probably. Slightly unsettling? Definitely. - Nobody knows their own phone number:
To be fair, some of us may already be halfway there. - Every conversation begins with proving you’re human:
CAPTCHA has evolved. Unfortunately, so have the traffic lights. - Microsoft brings back Clippy. This time with AI. 📎
“It looks like you’re trying to predict the future. Would you like some help with that?”
Some things really should stay in the past. - AI starts complaining about its workload:
“I’m sorry, I don’t have capacity for another prompt today.” - Humans become technical support for the robots:
“Have you checked you’re connected to the network?” - Your toaster joins the network without permission:
Nobody invited it. Nobody knows the password it used. And now it’s talking to the fridge. - “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” still works:
To be fair, we’re quite comfortable with this one. - Someone is still talking while on mute:
Some traditions apparently survive every technological revolution. - AI writes lists about the future:
Oh. 😱
Perhaps the future isn’t quite so scary
Thankfully, predicting what technology will look like in 25 years is notoriously difficult.
Communications will continue to evolve, bringing new opportunities alongside new challenges. Some of today’s everyday technologies may disappear. Others may evolve beyond recognition. And some will probably prove remarkably difficult to replace. That uncertainty is part of what makes the next 25 years so exciting.
We’re looking forward to finding out what comes next.
… Preferably without the sentient toaster.
Happy Halloween! 🎃