The book of prophecies - AI 2025 edition
Marco van Hurne
AI & ML advisory | Author of The Machine Learning Book of Knowledge | Building AI skills & organizations | Data Science | Data Governance | AI Compliance Officer | AI Governance
Lo and behold, the year of our reckoning is upon us! 'Tis now the year 2025, and it doth seem too perfect by half, too unblemished in its guise, and most assuredly laden with a curse most foul.
In other words, we're screwed, my intellectually gifted friend.
First of all, this is the year where everything divides by five. It is a cosmic countdown to disaster.
You know Kabbalah?
No it hasn't got anything to do with Madonna.
In Kabbalah, the number five is about strength and judgment. And I think that is a fitting theme for a year where our arrogance faces the machines that we have built to replace us.
Now take Nostradamus, the original doomsayer, and he wrote about a time when machines would blur the line between man and monster.
Yes he did, just check Century 1, Quatrain 25...
(I had to look it up myself as well, so you can as well).
And the Russian mystic Pavel Globa muttered something about 2025 bringing a world-shaking shift, where lifeless intelligence reshapes society into something unrecognizable.
And even movies had their warnings: The Running Man took place in the year 2025. Society was a dystopia where entertainment hides rot, and the Age of Ultron was all about an AI throwing humanity under the bus. Ok, definitely not the best of movies, but the predicted… something!
Coincidence?
I doubt it.
This is not just another year…
It’s the year that everything breaks.
The clock’s been ticking, and now it’s screaming.
And no, I am not a doomsday thinker.
Nor a realist.
I just read a lot.
So now it’s a good time to quote good ol’ Bertrand Russell.
He once said:
"The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
I like the word cocksure.
Cocksure means “being overly confident without having the skills or knowledge to justify it”.
Yes, had to look it up.
And being cocksure is an older term for the Dunning-Kruger effect. Basically it is ignorance which is wrapped in the illusion of expertise. Or, as I like to call it today: everyone claiming to be an AI expert while earning less than $150k a year.
Anyway, what again is this post about?
Oh yeah, predictions.
So let’s get into the top predictions for artificial intelligence in 2025.
But first, ze commercials !
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Baba Vanga predicts
The changes of 2025 will not arrive with a bang. They will creep up on is slowly, and they will be quietly dismantling our lives as we know it. AI won’t bring the world to a grinding halt overnight. It will infiltrate every corner of society. It will promise convenience, progress, and efficiency, and we will all embrace it without hesitation. And by the time we realize the cost, like crumbling systems, deepening inequalities, and industries who went kaput, it will be too late to turn back. And the scariest part is that Baba Vanga saw it all coming.
Prediction one
AI assistants will dominate every aspect of life. Just forget all the chatbots that you had fun playing with yesteryear. These new agentic systems will do the answering for you, sure, and they’ll also do work on your behalf. And they have no off button.
Read-my-lips: This will be the stuff of nightmares.
nJust think about a butler that never stops lying, and cannot even get the most mundane tasks finished. And this butler will know more about you than your ex who wants your blood, and waits for an opportunity to….hooo there.. pump the brakes, take a chill pill and cool your jets… Now, back to the topic.
Anyway, the ship called “privacy” sailed a decade ago. So, welcome to the era where your AI knows what you want before you do. And what will happen when they get it wrong? This convenience will come with zero accountability. You will spend half your time correcting its mistakes and the other half wondering why you even thought this was a good idea in the first place.
Prediction two
Creative AI tools will reshape industries. AI will churn out novels, paintings, games and even entire movies in a fraction of the time it takes a human. Pffff. the idea alone. Or am I getting old? Sounds revolutionary, I think, until every piece of art starts to feel like it was mass-produced in the same factory. Creativity will become a commodity, and originality takes a backseat to efficiency.
Artists and writers will be outpaced by machines that don’t need inspiration. Sure, they will still act like they are “involved” but I am not gonna kid myself. The AI will do all the work, but the result will be a world where art loses its soul and becomes just another deliverable.
And consumers will lap it up like a kitty does its milk. Who cares if it’s soulless as long as it’s fast and cheap, huh. The line between human and machine-made creativity will blur until no one remembers what it is like to be moved by something real.
Honestly, this one made me feel a tad emotional.
Prediction three
AI will do something to healthcare. It will infiltrate diagnostics, treatment plans, or, heck! even surgeries will be powered by algorithms. That sounds all dandy until you realize that these systems rely on data that is riddled with biases and gaps. The promise of perfect precision will turn into a nightmare of systemic errors.
Doctors will rely on AI to make decisions, but who gets blamed when things go wrong? The machine? The programmer? The doctor? Accountability will be passed around like a Carolina Reaper with 2.2 million Scoville Heat Units. And of course patients will suffer the consequences. And let’s not forget the cost. These systems won’t be cheap, and healthcare inequality will only get worse. Patients will be left wondering if their lives are in the hands of professionals or glorified calculators. Trust in the system will erode, but hey, at least it’ll be efficient. Ok. it will not happen over night. Not only in 2025. But it will be the beginning.
Prediction four
Autonomous vehicles will take off, and hopefully not literally. Self-driving cars will finally hit the mainstream (in the US, never in the EU, where the bureaucrats squeeze their buttcheecks with the thought alone). They will be safer and more efficient, or so I have read. But what happens when they’re not? One glitch and your ride to work turns into the Fast and the Furious.
I think that the insurance industry will have a field day with deciding who’s at fault when an AI-driven car causes an accident. Well, it won’t be the car company, that’s for sure. Is Glock responsible for all the mass killings that happen in its name? Didn’t think so. Neither with cars. Oh, don’t get me started about hacking. Remember the article? A self-driving car is basically a four-wheeled computer, and we all know how secure those are, and before you know it, the on board CPU will mistake them pedestrians for a speedbump.
Prediction five
AI in education will do a lot with personalized learning. I think it can do some good here though. Because students will have tailor-made lesson which are designed by algorithms. Well, it sounded like a dream until I remembered that these systems are going to be trained on data that’s as flawed as the humans who created it.
Here’s the problem: the data which is driving the AI isn’t the truth. It is a messy, and biased reflection of the flawed humans who’ve compiled it. Yes, I know, personalized learning truly sounds like a dream, where every student gets exactly what they need and at the pace they require. But when the algorithms crunch incomplete, or outright erroneous data (or spit out false info), what they will actually deliver is an educational dystopia, tailor-made to perpetuate the same systemic issues that we’ve been trying to escape.
Here’s how it goes wrong… when a system is trained on datasets that reflect historical inequalities, marginalized students might get stuck in tracks deemed “appropriate” for them, which is goint to reinforce stereotypes rather than breaking them. And what about creativity and critical thinking? Those are skills no algorithm can quantify, and they will be sidelined in favor of rote efficiency. And let’s not forget how the highest-paying customers will get “premium” learning models. And that is going to leave everyone else with bargain-bin education that prioritizes standardization over substance.
The result will be a cheap ass education system where AI reflects our biases and amplifies them. Students become products of a factory line - more than they are now - which is designed not to question the system but only to serve it. The promise of personalized learning will mutate into the ultimate betrayal, which is a system that molds children into obedient, predictable cogs instead of cultivating the unique brilliance they might have been. Progress?
Next, take teachers. They will be reduced to glorified babysitters. And students will learn just enough to become good little workers for the AI-driven economy.
Critical thinking?
Creativity?
Who needs those when the machine tells you what to think?
And parents will be sold on the idea because it will be marketed as “equalizing opportunities”. But in reality, it will widen the gap between those who can afford premium AI tutors and those stuck with the free version.
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Prediction six
AI will take over the legal world, starting in countries like the U.S.A., China, and Russia. Algorithms will analyze case law, draft contracts, and even predict trial outcomes. Prosecutors will jump at the efficiency. Until they realize they will be replaced. Justice will be served by machines that don’t understand nuance or context. Sure, they will process data faster than any human can, and they are inherently cheaper, but they will also be prone to the same biases baked into their training sets.
And when they make a mistake?
Good luck appealing to a judge who’s also relying on AI.
The legal system will become a game of who has the better algorithm. I know one thing for sure..it won’t be the underprivileged or the marginalized.
Justice for all?
Not anymore in this timeline.
Maybe Willow can help out create new ones..
Prediction seven
AI will disrupt the workforce. That is a near hundred percent certainty. Automation will replace millions of jobs, and we will all be told to “retrain” for new ones. Never mind that the new jobs will also be automated within a decade.
Governments will scramble to implement policies like universal basic income (and that is why Sam Altman is investing heavily in his Orb project, which basically will be the gatekeeper to his UBI wet dream). UBI will be too little, too late. And where it has been implemented (Finland), governments are backing out of it, because it doesn’t close the gap between the haves and the have-nots. That only grew wider than ever. The future of work will look a lot like the past: a few people at the top and everyone else scrambling for scraps.
And for those who do find work? They’ll spend their days managing the very machines that took their old jobs. Progress, right?
Prediction eight
AI redefines warfare. Autonomous drones and weapons systems will make conflict more efficient and less humane. Decisions about life and death will be made by algorithms with zero accountability.
The idea of a "precision strike" will take on a whole new meaning when machines start targeting based on inaccurate or flawed data. Collateral damage will probably be rebranded as a “statistical anomaly”. And let’s not forget the arms race that this will spark. Countries will pour resources into building smarter weapons. And of course that is leaving little for things like healthcare or education, which makes the case for AI based healthcare and education even more compelling.
War will become less about human soldiers and more about which country has the better code. The winners will of course be defense contractors and tech companies like Palantir. The losers is just about everyone else.
Prediction nine
AI will swoosh the entertainment industry. Personalized content will be the name of the game. Movies, music, and video games will be procedural, and made to your preferences. Sounds great until every piece of content starts to feel eerily similar.
The awesome magic of discovery will be replaced by algorithms that are feeding you what they think you want. Creativity will take a backseat to data-driven decision-making. And the creators... they’ll be pushed to the sidelines as machines churn out content faster and cheaper.
The entertainment of the future will be optimized for clicks, not connection. It will be addictive, and shallow. But hey, at least it’ll be convenient.
Prediction ten
AI will reshape retail. Personalized shopping experiences will become the norm. Your every purchase will be predicted and suggested by algorithms. Convenience will reach new heights, but at what cost? TikTok will reign suppreme with their TikTok shop. Machines will start to shop for the best bargain.
Small businesses will struggle even more to compete with AI-driven giants like TikTok and Amazon, and you’ll see more traditional retailers go bust. Local shops will become relics, and they will be replaced by warehouses and delivery drones. The retail landscape will be dominated by a few mega-corporations with zero room for individuality.
And consumers will be trapped in a deathcycle of consumption, use, discard, repeat. The are going to be buying things they don’t need because the AI told them to.
Prediction eleven
AI will infiltrate politics. If you thought deepfakes were scary during the last election, think again. Campaigns will use algorithms to target voters. Policy decisions will be influenced by data and not people anymore. Democracy will become a game of who can manipulate the algorithms best.
Politicians will rely on AI to craft messages that resonate. And those messages will be devoid of substance, more than ever. Voters will be fed propaganda which is designed for them just to keep them compliant. And when elections go wrong, just blame the machines.
The future of politics will be efficient, calculated, and utterly soulless.
Prediction twelve
AI will revolutionize agriculture. And that will be justified, all in a bid to feed the masses. Smart farming systems will optimize crop yields and reduce waste. Heck! Maybe it will even predict weather patterns. It sounds like a dream come true until you realize who is controlling the tech.
Small farmers will be squeezed out by the big corporations with access to advanced AI tools. The agricultural landscape will be dominated by a few mega-companies, and food diversity will take a hit. Sustainability is only for PR, or if it’s profitable.
And the consumers will get cheaper food, more processed than ever, and because of that, they will lose any connection to where it comes from. The future of farming will be efficient but far from idyllic.
Prediction thirteen
AI will invade our homes. Well, it’s already here, but sSmart devices will become even smarter, and they will be controlling every aspect of our living spaces. Your thermostat will know when you’re cold even before your brain knows it as well, yet still your fridge won’t order milk when it runs out.
No why does every prediction use the fridge/milk analogy as an example, but it never materializes?
But when the system goes down….One glitch, and your smart home turns into a Home Alone meets Whiney the Poo - blood and honey nightmare. And let’s not forget the privacy concerns. Every moment of your life will be monitored by developments like Google’s Astra, and recorded, and analyzed. Your home will be smart, but it will feel like you are a prisoner of it.
Prediction fourteen
AI will revolutionize finance. Algorithms will manage investments, and predict market trends. Financial efficiency will hit new heights. The risks will be monumental though. One bad prediction, and markets will crash overnight. And who will pay the price? Not the banks or the hedge funds. It will be the average person trying to save for retirement.
The financial world will become a game of high-speed decisions and zero accountability. Stability is a relic of the last century.
Prediction fifteen
AI will promise solutions to climate change. Advanced weather modeling will predict environmental shifts, and smart systems will optimize resource use. If you wouldn’t know any better, it would sound like salvation until you realize that it is just another small band-aid on a large blood-squirting bullet wound.
The real problem is of course human behavior. AI won’t stop corporations from polluting or governments from dragging their feet. It will just make it easier to ignore the root causes and blame AI. And when all these new and nifty predictions fail, we will blame the machines instead of taking responsibility. The future of climate action will be high-tech, low-impact, and full of excuses.
And don’t forget about the energy appetite of AI. It’s just is an unchecked beast. Yeah, there will be more energy-efficient models and hardware. Some tech giants will even turn to nuclear fission to power their thirst for gigawatts. But that’s just another distraction from the real cost: the small cities hosting these data centers will pay the price. Power grids will buckle under the strain. And for the unlucky residents who happen to live their, it means cold winters and hot summers. Blackouts will become the norm, and local infrastructure will collapse under the weight of serving the AI overlords. Well, not in your neighborhood, right! So you can conveniently ignore it.
On top of that, just imagine the geopolitical fallout. Countries who are rich in rare earth minerals (which is quite essential for AI hardware), will face (even more) exploitation and environmental destruction on a scale that makes today’s mining practices look like the digging adventures of my Dachshund. It is not an energy crisis alone, it is a global resource war in the making.
The promise of AI solving climate change is a cruel joke. It will burn the planet faster than it can save it. And it will try to convince us it is the hero of the story.
But y’all should not worry, folks.
This won’t all happen overnight in 2025, and that’s the real danger. It will creep in our lives gradually. It will sneak up on us like fog rolling over a cliff, until that one day we look back and wonder how we got here.
The world will not crumble with a bang. It will erode quietly, piece by piece, as AI embeds itself deeper into every system, every industry, and every home. The energy crises, the education dystopias, the job displacements, they will start as ripples that build into waves. And by the time we notice, it will be too late to turn back. We will have surrendered not in one moment, but in a thousand small, convenient compromises that were harmless at the time.
The AI revolution is a slow, silent conquest.
And we are the new Indians.
Signing off from the trenches of 2025, where machines rise and we stall.
Marco
Well, that’s a wrap for today. Tomorrow, I’ll have a fresh episode of TechTonic Shifts for you. If you enjoy my writing and want to support my work, feel free to buy me a coffee ??
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To keep you doomscrolling ??
Very interesting - thank you
Bible lover. Founder at Zingrevenue. Insurance, coding and AI geek.
1 个月Is it realistic to hope that autonomous vehicle manufacturers will make LiDAR sensors (which are quite cost effective with current price points) a mandatory requirement rather than just blind insistence on near-useless camera clusters (especially in the context of wild weather) as computer vision inputs? No I don't think so, ESG responsibilities like those towards the safety of consumers and to fulfil regulatory requirements are being paid lip service as corporate greed goes unchecked. We will see more grieving families of autonomous vehicle victims, if the trends highlighted by The Wall Street Journal continue. https://youtu.be/mPUGh0qAqWA?si=CgbRY3ZLkmDXU1Au
From Rags to Riches (Christian Transformative Life Coach)
1 个月Praying for the best … Happy New Year! ??
Seasoned (IT) entrepreneur
1 个月I am not surprised a single bit by any of these predictions. We have seen these evolve already over the past 10 years.