AI has quietly broken into our lives over just a couple of years. It has not replaced life as we know it, but it has greatly augmented it.

At this point someone is guaranteed to say something like 'large language models just pick the most likely next word and that is how they generate text.' You are better off ignoring that kind of take. They are technically right, but at this scale, with billions of parameters, this method produces unique and surprisingly accurate results that sound very close to how a person would speak.

As I wrote earlier, for me ChatGPT and Claude feel like junior developers on the team, and lately they have also started to help with some basic management tasks. What has changed over the last year is the quality of the output code and the reduction in 'hallucinations.' Now it really does feel like working with a junior who is doing their best to help: sometimes not in the most optimal way, but they get the job done.

So what is next? I do not call myself an expert, but I follow AI development closely, use it as a helper and integrate it directly into my projects. Based on that, here is my personal forecast.

**2025.** The quality of code, text, advice, and planning will reach a new level. It still will not be human or even a true imitation of a human, but the gap with today’s level will be clearly visible.

**2026.** Voice assistants will finally become what people expected from ChatGPT’s Advanced Mode: indistinguishable from humans in tone and emotion, with conversations that feel conscious and comfortable, almost like talking to real people.

**2027.** Mass layoffs across a wide range of industries, because AI assistants will be able to do most of the work. Only leads and people above them will remain. The air will start to smell like AGI.

**2030.** Companies will turn into shells populated almost exclusively by decision-makers: C-level and those one level below. (Hooray, I will not lose my job!)

What happens to everyone else? Hard to say.

I am convinced that artists, musicians, and other creative people will stay, and their work will only become more valuable, like handmade suits and shoes are valued today. People who influence decisions and define a company’s direction will obviously stay as well. Entrepreneurs will be able to grow their businesses faster and cheaper, but competition will also grow dramatically.

And our world will increasingly resemble a dystopia from novels that were never written by authors who never existed. It will become a dystopia not thanks to AI, but in spite of it.