If you grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, you likely had the same answers as children when someone asked you, “What do you think happens in ten years?” Responses usually revolved around flying cars, robot servants, and pretty much what they saw on The Jetsons.
Those predictions were colorful, fun, and, you could say, came with a sense of optimism. These days? People are foreseeing a grimmer future a decade from now.
Just take a look at these responses in a recent Reddit thread when someone asked, “What’s something that’s highly likely to happen in the next 10 years that almost nobody is preparing for?”
If you’re easily freaked out, these posts may keep you up for the next three days.
#1
Even hotter summers probably.
Image source: bigshady880, garetsvisual
#2
I think many industries will eventually discover that they basically destroyed the pipeline that creates senior experts.
AI will remove a lot of the boring junior work, but that’s also the work that actually makes people good at their job.
For example software engineering. You don’t become a skilled SW engineer by reading books. You become one by spending years writing code, debugging weird stuff, doing code reviews, making bad design decisions and figuring out why they were bad, discussing with seniors and peers, teaching juniors, tracing problems through different abstraction layers etc. Over time you gradually build an internal model of how the whole system ACTUALLY works.
I fear we get to a point where people actually knowing what the hell is going on becomes a rarity.
Because economically it makes perfect sense. Why hire 5 juniors when you can have 1 senior + AI doing more work? Where do the new seniors come from?
And I genuinely think we will eventually see deadly system failures because of this. Because something subtle goes wrong and there are simply too few people left who understand the system well enough to realize why its wrong.
Image source: Whiteowl116, seventyfour
#3
MRNA cures cancer.
Image source: asu3dvl, Drazen Zigic
#4
The consequences of devaluing education are going to hit the working world.
Kids right now using ChatGPT for their assignments (if they even do them at all, some districts aren’t really allowed to fail kids anymore), with a 7 second attention span. The job market sucks, but what happens when droves of an entire generation are functionally unemployable?
Image source: StormerSage, volodymyr-t
#5
Society becoming insanely stupid and ignorant exponentially more than it is now.
Image source: aluminumnek, herosnow442
#6
The retirement cliff for people who run critical physical infrastructure.
A staggering percentage of water treatment plant operators, power grid technicians, commercial boiler mechanics, and municipal utility workers are in their late 50s and 60s. These are jobs that rely heavily on years of niche, unwritten institutional knowledge about legacy systems that have been patched together over decades.
Younger generations were steered heavily away from these paths, and public sector pay scales never adjusted to attract new talent. In the next 10 years, a huge portion of the people who literally keep clean water flowing and the local grid stable are going to walk out the door into retirement, and there simply is not a pipeline of trained workers ready to step into those control rooms.
Image source: dylanbryantpt, serhii_bobyk
#7
Another depression. People can barely afford their bills as is.
Image source: Successful-Shopping8, noohsaob974
#8
Antibiotic resistance.
Image source: wildwicket49, stefamerpik
#9
Massive food shortages caused by huge crop failures caused by climate change.
Image source: jackgrafter, wirestock
#10
The most serious crisis in the Western world is the crisis of certainty. No one can ever be wrong anymore, publicly or privately. It’s destroying our ability to think critically and solve problems. And every other problem listed here, every single one, is made more serious and in some cases is *only possible* because of the certainty crisis. And the scariest thing about it is that it’s invisible, because in order to acknowledge it in a productive way you have to be willing to acknowledge the possibility that you might be one of the people who are wrong. And no one wants to do that.
Image source: RPMac1979, The Yuri Arcurs Collection
#11
A massive, silent retirement crisis where tens of millions of people reach their late 60s with under $10,000 in total savings.
Image source: Then_Sir7372, magnific
#12
The near-total breakdown of voice and video as proof of identity.
Right now, almost our entire financial, legal, and personal safety net relies on the phone call as the ultimate fallback for verification. If your account gets locked, you call a representative. If a bank suspects fraud, they call you. If a family member is in trouble, they call.
With real-time voice cloning and video generation getting dirt cheap and near-flawless, the concept of “I know it was you because I heard your voice” is going to evaporate. We are going to need physical tokens, shared offline passphrases, or in-person verification for routine things that currently take a 30-second call, and most institutions have zero infrastructure in place for when that switch has to happen.
Image source: jimmysmithht, magnific
#13
The Russification of the US.
America chose to disinvest in itself decades ago, so our infrastructure is crumbling, our education is falling behind, and our institutions are failing. The last 10 years has seen the supercharging of the collapse, though.
I don’t think Americans understand what losing our trade and military allies means to Americans. I don’t think they understand what the end of the petrodollar means for Americans. I think that a ton of Americans genuinely believe that America is strong because God or whatever, and not because of the massive investments in education, infrastructure, public health, science, and diplomacy. All of the investments are gone. America is failing.
Americans failed America.
Image source: ganjaccount, magnific
#14
A devaluation of the US dollar and loss of world res r rve currency status. The US wont default on its unpayable debt, just pay the debt in devalued dollars. Everything will almost instantly cost more especially anything imported and savings will lose value.
Image source: RedundantBiomass, tsyboleg
#15
Elder scrolls 6!
No wait…
Winds of winter!!!
Aw damnit…
Image source: toilet_gorilla, Gameserton
#16
The revolution.
Image source: Legitimate_Field_157, magnific
#17
I am 65. I have no doubt I will pass away in the next 10 years. At that point you will all be true and surely screwed. Because the world DOES revolve around me.
Image source: mrknowitall51761, magnific
#18
The complete removal of photos / videos as admissible evidence in our justice system.
I’m not seeing this talked about much yet but it scares the heck out of me. Any video can be created of anyone doing a crime if the government or any person really, wants to see a specific person convicted and locked up. I just hope this is fully realized and laws changed *before* innocent people start being put behind bars. Honestly, it could’ve already happened without anyone knowing except the person sitting in prison who knows they couldn’t possibly have committed their crime. Very scary stuff! So much has and is going to change because of AI.
Image source: Ok-Edge198, jet-po
#19
Cataclysmic weather events – huge floods; towns being consumed by wildfires; droughts that cause water famine; tornados, earthquakes…
Image source: 2wrtjbdsgj, 24K Production
#20
A near-global depression caused by oligarchs and their hunt for more all the time. It will coincide with severe food and water shortages, and lots of our established rule of law will be binned. There will be hundreds of millions less people on earth by the end of it. Starvation will be extreme in countries with little crops and soil fertility, and those which have been extremely corrupted.
Image source: Mtfdurian, kitzcorner
#21
The Great Depression the sequel is right around the corner, might happen on its 100 year anniversary how cute.
Image source: bwils3423, Unknown
#22
Famine
Large refugee movements
The true consequences of the breakdown in international cooperation.
#23
My dog will pass away.
Image source: SneakyWheeler, pvproductions
#24
Water rations.
Image source: DesignerSea494, magnific
#25
A massive market correction that will ripple across every aspect of life. It will be big and it will be violent.
Image source: atteres
#26
The AMOC will collapse. It brings warm water to winter hemisphere and cool water to summer hemisphere. Losing it means more extreme temperatures, less rain, and the disintegration of food supply.
Image source: cactusjude
#27
Please google Q-Day
Quantum computers will crack blockchains (yes Bitcoin, we mean YOU) and all conventional passwords within fractions of seconds.
Also: Will the first high potential quantum-computer be advertised (like “today XYZ presented their fully functional quantum-computer, operating at the ABC institute and making meteorological modeling a lot more precise”) or will the entire NYC, London, Paris public transport, air-traffic-control and energy grid just brake down and we discover this way, that the Russians or Chinese have been faster.
Q-DAY – the day quantum-computers are able to break all conventional password encryption – has initially been expected around 2050. The number has recently been corrected to “between 2030 and 2040” and falls right in the 10 year frame of this question. I think 2030 is WAY more likely than 2035 ….
Image source: whatstefansees
#28
Our children are too young to know the difference between real and fake media because fake is so common and well developed. They didn’t live in a time when fakes were obvious.
Image source: turboyabby
#29
Mass unemployment from the AI “boom.” And it’s not us that should be preparing for it, it’s our governments; if they actually served the people they claim to represent.
Image source: tetsuo_7w
#30
What happened in Nepal is going to happen almost every other year.
Image source: Dontakeitez
#31
The collapse of the USA and its alliances with the traditional West. It has already started.
Image source: BummyFingers
#32
The effects of weather from global warming, food supply issues.
Image source: Bag_of_ksss
#33
People becoming so dependent on AI that they slowly stop knowing how to do basic things without it.
Not some dramatic “AI takes over the world” scenario – more like people gradually outsourcing their thinking, decision-making, creativity, and even basic communication to AI.
And we probably won’t realize how much we have lost until we actually need to function without it.
Image source: BharatTiwari87
#34
Water rationing. It’s started already.
Image source: beacon_bird
#35
Government debt and spending has gone out of control and the only way to deal with it will be both massive spending cuts and tax increases.
By 2032ish half of all government spending will be just for paying interest on the debt.
All the debt the US accumulated since its inception has doubled in the last 10 years, and deficit spending has quadrupled in the last 10 years as well.
And the best thing is, we have jack to show for it, its all been squandered.
Spending cuts will mean your services and benefits. Even if we cut military spending in half it would only cover less than 1/3rd of the deficit spending. Expect a major recession due to job losses and money being taken out of the economy too.
Image source: WingerRules
#36
Herd immunity failure because of fear of vaccinations. Measles is already making a comeback and polio isn’t eradicated globally.
I understand this is just an expected down turn because people would rather be led than force marched, but if we can’t address this there could be serious consequences in general human health.
I think a lot of people believe ‘what doesn’t end you makes you stronger’ as far as diseases go, but we don’t allow predators to take a certain number of children and the elderly. Why is disease seen differently?
Image source: darkest_irish_lass
#37
A different group of religious conservatives will be threatening our freedoms.
Image source: ActualOriginal4030
#38
AI bubble bursting. It’ll happen much sooner than that.
Image source: TheLastSamurai101
#39
The water shortages.
Between climate change and AI – there’s going to be a lot of places in the developed world that will be rationing water through cost, limits and fines.
Image source: Gnglebot
#40
The need to retrofit homes with high-grade air filtration (for wildfire smoke), heavy-duty HVAC systems, and air-tight weather sealing to handle extreme climate events.
Image source: keno888
#41
Humanoid robots walking around on the streets everywhere.
Image source: sevenwheel
#42
Losing the ability to look forward to things you used to get excited about.
Image source: Fine-Hunt3981
#43
The gray wave of farmers all retiring and selling land they can no longer keep up en masse.
Corporations and data centers are buying it up like crazy. I’ve been researching how to stop it because I live in a primarily Agri community and there’s sooooooo many “for sale X acres” signs .
Image source: TheRaccoonReport
#44
A massive increase in people being unable to afford insurance.
Not just health insurance either. Homeowners insurance, car insurance, flood insurance… entire areas are already becoming ridiculously expensive to insure, and eventually some places are probably going to hit the point where private insurers just can’t afford it.
People are preparing for houses getting destroyed by disasters. Almost nobody seems prepared for the future where nobody can afford to insure their house anymore.
Image source: Suspicious-Still-890
#45
America being the victim of drone strikes from nations it’s pissed off.
Image source: RumHamComesback
#46
Economic collapse with a food shortage due to climate change which will cause even more civil unrest than there already is, leading to a civil war.
Image source: Jealous-Can-2710
#47
*Most* 11 and 12 year olds cannot read or write. They cannot hold a pen properly or read a full page of text and understand what it says.
They’ll be adults in a decade. Many, many adults will be unable to read or write in a decade.
Also in a decade many seniors will be requiring around the clock care and there will not be nearly enough caretakers. A huge generation is about to age out of independence. This is going to be a huge problem.
in two decades? Those soon to be adults will also develop early onset dementia and require around the clock care, probably in the same homes as the still alive boomers requiring care.
Essentially, everyone who chose not to have kids is going to be putting up with some form of them for the rest of their lives.
Image source: Rude_Reality_9690
#48
The Thwaites glacier “plug” is GOING to collapse. In fact, may before the end of this year. It serves as kind of a cork for a MUCH larger ice sheet. Once it’s gone, highly saline sea water will flood the underside of that glacier, and then it’s game over for sea levels as we’ve understood them. No amount of carbon emissions bills will be able to stop that process once it’s underway. We’ve blundered past the line. It’s no longer about how to mitigate climate change’s impacts, it’s about how to survive them and the massive economic and political unrest they’re going to cause. And that’s not decade’s down the line. You’re already in the first days of that new era.
Image source: MyCatLaughsAtMe
#49
Hurricanes in Southern California.
Image source: Juano_Guano
#50
Repercussions and eventuality of climate change. I live in an area where it is not just complete denial, they think the current trends disprove any sort of an issue and my own mother weirdly loves it.
Image source: str713gzr
#51
Another Great Depression. Like the 1930s.
Image source: Adventurous-Fly-82
#52
Massive homeless encampments next to multi million dollar empty investment homes.
Image source: CertainKindofCat
#53
Massive Infertility due to heat stress, microplastics as hormone disruptors, and economic stress.
Image source: silent-sight
#54
Ai and robots taking jobs away from both skilled and unskilled workers. The cost of operating a robot is already approaching the equivalent of minimum wage.
Image source: Peter225B
#55
Natural disasters happening more often. More hurricanes, typhoons, tornados, heavy blizzards, giant hailstorms, floods, wildfires.
Image source: StinkyBeardThePirate
#56
Another collapse of the Russian government.
Image source: Brian_The_Bar-Brian
#57
Climate refugees. The planet is changing at an alarming rate. Not near enough is being done about it, and many areas are going to become uninhabitable. The people living in these areas have to go somewhere.
Image source: jedijessy
#58
Our baseline sense of “money value” is about to warp over the next decade, and I do not think most people have fully registered what it means.
Take $100,000 as a benchmark:
* **10 years ago:** $100,000 had the buying power equivalent to roughly **$139,000** in today’s money.
* **10 years from now:** With standard inflation, that same $100,000 cash will likely only buy what **$71,880** buys today.
That is a massive drop in purchasing power in a relatively short window of time. $100k used to feel like a milestone number for security or middle-class stability, but it is rapidly turning into what $60k–$70k used to be.
If wages and salaries fail to keep pace with this trend, we are heading toward huge systemic issues—lifestyle compression, shifting definitions of retirement, and major economic friction for anyone relying solely on standard income or stagnant cash savings.
It feels like a quiet shift that everyone sees coming on paper, but very few are actively adjusting their lives for.
Image source: Cultural-Tap9132
#59
Climate change to a point where certain parts of the planet become uninhabitable. Sea levels rising and people moving away from coastal areas. More extreme heat events in the summers and increased forest fires. Certain regions starting to see physical conflict over water and other resources.
Image source: reithejelly
#60
Water rationing in more parts of the world.
Image source: cannavacciuolo420
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