Tech

TRUST COLLAPSE

When everything looks real, nothing feels real. AI is making influencers indistinguishable from their digital twins. Trust becomes the word of the year.

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Chris Danton

Guest Contributor

Chris Danton

Predictions

@wimbledon

Apple

Slack

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Influence shifts to intimacy. IRL, face-to-face, local communities, real experts, and small groups where you know the person in front of you isn’t a clone go wild. Meet-ups, audience gatherings, niche communities (including on group chats that filter bots) get bigger. Disconnection has been predicted for years, but we’re demanding it now.

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GUEST PREDICTIONS
GUEST PREDICTIONS

Danielle Greenberg

No one knows more about where AI is headed than this woman. And she’ll teach you everything.

Danielle Greenberg
  • AI use will shift from choosing one assistant to assembling a personal toolkit. I already use ChatGPT for personal tasks, Gemini for analytical or visual work, and Claude for creative thinking. This kind of deliberate, purpose-driven use will define mainstream behavior next year. https://www.smithstephen.com/p/your-ai-tools-arent-competing-theyre

  • Brands have already started moving away from mass appeal, and 2026 is the year this becomes the norm. They will design for people as they truly are: contradictory, plural, and complex. The brands that respect that complexity will outperform the ones still chasing a single story.

  • Micro-apps will become the default way people interact with technology. Instead of adopting long-term tools, people will build momentary apps for precise needs, use them once, and move on. Software becomes transient and strictly purpose driven, where utility wins over attachment.

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