Hear me out: NOT robotics. The recent things were trendy and had hundreds of startups because a small team could hype something up and generate a life changing amount of money very quickly. It is much more difficult to "get that bag" with a robotics startup, so founders aren't going to gravitate as much towards it (other than ones that are already super rich, but statistically there aren't many of those).

The next trend IMHO will be apps and interfaces for whatever replaces websites over the next 5 years. Whether that's API layers for systems to communicate with each other, "SEO" for chatbots, whatever CMSs will morph into, etc. remains to be seen. Websites (in the 90s/2000s sense of the word) are clearly on the way out, but it's unclear what exactly will replace them.

Robotics absolutely, in particular easy reprogrammability of robots (through mimicking)

I suspect we have not heard the last of The Metaverse(TM); note that the big push a few years back was actually the second one (after absurd levels of SecondLife hype a decade or so before).

Some sort of quantum computing hype feels inevitable at some point.

The return of the revenge of wearables.

Biotech, again.

After all that, we'll probably be ready for another AI bubble, as is traditional (there tends to be one every couple of decades).

Not completely tech related but I think at the moment culture is very maximalist

Hyper-comercialization of music, social media, influencers, marvelification of movies, etc…

Feels very saturated and overproduced at the moment

I wouldn’t be suprised if in the coming decades the pendulum will swing towards more a cultural trend of minimalism and authenticity as a reaction to that

Attempted rebrand of AI.

Apps that create false data to crash advertising algorithms. Random GPS locations, random product interests, random web site visits, random follows and likes. Like how SEO poisons search results.

Apps that respond to video ads by calling/messaging the sponsor CEO and the media company CEO with the audio of the ad.

AI and blockchain are here to strive (not the scam version of both), I would bet more on federation and decentralization that would make a strong comeback

Geothermal, solid state 3D printed batteries already a thing but soon to be mass produced, Self Piloting Flying Cars, Mass adoption of mini-micro-mini-micro nuclear power plants, Slight increase of self hosted decentralized platforms, Spartan lifestyles simplification, small home living, less junk, more work from home, "AI" branded everything. AI water, AI computers, AI cell phones, AI diapers, AI energy drinks it's what plants crave...

People who renounce contamination from digital content will be paid by AIs to answer their questions on simple terminals.

- Robotics and autonomous services

- Resurgence of crazed AR/VR games like 'Pokémon Go'

Rehiring

robotics

transhumanism

How to install windows from floppy disks