Science fiction writers have been eerily accurate fortune tellers for decades.
Knight Rider‘s self-driving car seemed impossible in 1982, but Tesla’s autopilot proved fiction right, while The Jetsons‘ video calls looked like fantasy in 1962 until Zoom became mandatory during the pandemic. Today, we have series like Marvel’s Ironheart and Apple’s mind-bending show, Severance. While they are great television, they also serve as accidental user manuals for the next decade. In fact, some if the technologies and social changes these shows casually present as plot devices are already taking shape in labs and boardrooms across Silicon Valley. Here’s a breakdown of how what looks like fantasy today will feel mundane by 2030.
Riri Williams talks to her AI like it’s a roommate who actually pays attention. Her digital assistant doesn’t wait for commands — it anticipates what she needs before she knows she needs it. Current tech companies are throwing billions at making this exact scenario a reality. Google’s latest AI experiments can predict user behavior with frightening accuracy, while startups race to build ambient computing that lives in your environment rather than your pocket. The clunky app-switching nightmare we deal with now? Dead and buried. Instead, invisible AI will orchestrate your entire day, learning your quirks and preferences through constant observation. Morning coffee is automatically ordered when you wake up groggy. Traffic routes are adjusted before you realize you’re running late. This isn’t convenience — it’s digital telepathy.
Severance workers get their brains literally compartmentalized, but strip away the corporate dystopia, and you’re left with incredible therapeutic potential. PTSD sufferers could have traumatic memories surgically dulled. Addiction specialists might target the neural pathways that trigger cravings. Depression patients could get their default emotional settings recalibrated at the neurological level. Companies like Kernel are already mapping brain activity with unprecedented precision. Military research into memory manipulation continues advancing, ostensibly to help veterans but with broader applications. The ethical debates will be fierce, but desperate patients won’t wait for philosophers to reach consensus. Underground memory clinics could emerge, offering services that traditional medicine won’t touch.
Both shows treat constant surveillance as background noise. Characters accept being watched, tracked, and analyzed because the alternative means opting out of modern life entirely. Sound familiar? Social media already knows your political views better than your family does. Your car reports your driving habits to insurance companies. Smart speakers record conversations even when supposedly asleep. The next step isn’t more surveillance — it’s making people grateful for it. Cities will monitor air quality and automatically adjust traffic to reduce pollution. Wearable devices will detect illness before symptoms appear, potentially saving millions of lives. The generation raised on TikTok won’t see this as oppression. They’ll see it as civilization finally getting its act together.
‘Severance’ workers surrender their personal memories for workplace efficiency, but real companies are pursuing the same goal through different methods. Amazon already provides company housing in some locations. Tech giants offer on-site meals, healthcare, childcare, and entertainment. The logical endpoint? Corporate citizenship where leaving your job means losing your entire support network. Spotify employees might get exclusive access to new music. Netflix workers could receive early screening privileges. Google staffers might get priority booking for self-driving cars. These aren’t just perks — they’re psychological anchors that make job mobility nearly impossible. The line between employee benefits and behavioral control will disappear entirely.
In Ironheart, Riri essentially wears her emotions on her sleeve, literally. Her suit responds to her mental state and physical needs without conscious input. Fashion tech companies are racing to make this real. Prototype fabrics already change color based on temperature or mood. Smart clothing monitors vital signs and adjusts temperature accordingly. Contact lenses with built-in displays exist in early forms. The military is testing uniforms that provide real-time battlefield information directly to soldiers’ visual cortex. Within a decade, wearing “dumb” clothes will feel like using a flip phone. Your outfit will know if you’re stressed, tired, or getting sick. It’ll adjust accordingly and probably suggest lifestyle changes through gentle haptic feedback.
Severance literalizes what millions already experience: becoming different people at work versus home. Virtual reality meetings are primitive compared to what’s coming. Full-body haptic suits will make remote collaboration feel physically present. AI assistants will manage different aspects of personality for different contexts — more aggressive for negotiations, more collaborative for team projects, more creative for brainstorming sessions. People will customize their professional personas like video game characters, optimizing traits for specific career objectives. The authentic self becomes a luxury reserved for close friends and family. Everyone else gets the algorithmically optimized version designed for maximum professional success.
Both shows feature worlds where human decision-making has been largely automated. Traffic lights that respond to real-time congestion patterns already exist. Police departments use predictive analytics to deploy officers before crimes occur. Courts employ AI to recommend sentences based on historical data and recidivism rates. Citizens increasingly prefer algorithmic fairness to human judgment, especially when human judgment seems biased or incompetent. Why let corrupt city councilors decide budget allocations when AI can optimize resource distribution mathematically? Why trust politicians to set policies when machine learning can predict outcomes with unprecedented accuracy? Democracy will persist as theater, but actual governance will happen in server farms.
Knight Rider‘s self-driving car seemed impossible in 1982, but Tesla’s autopilot proved fiction right, while The Jetsons‘ video calls looked like fantasy in 1962 until Zoom became mandatory during the pandemic. Today, we have series like Marvel’s Ironheart and Apple’s mind-bending show, Severance. While they are great television, they also serve as accidental user manuals for the next decade. In fact, some if the technologies and social changes these shows casually present as plot devices are already taking shape in labs and boardrooms across Silicon Valley. Here’s a breakdown of how what looks like fantasy today will feel mundane by 2030.
1. Your Phone’s About to Become Obsolete
Riri Williams talks to her AI like it’s a roommate who actually pays attention. Her digital assistant doesn’t wait for commands — it anticipates what she needs before she knows she needs it. Current tech companies are throwing billions at making this exact scenario a reality. Google’s latest AI experiments can predict user behavior with frightening accuracy, while startups race to build ambient computing that lives in your environment rather than your pocket. The clunky app-switching nightmare we deal with now? Dead and buried. Instead, invisible AI will orchestrate your entire day, learning your quirks and preferences through constant observation. Morning coffee is automatically ordered when you wake up groggy. Traffic routes are adjusted before you realize you’re running late. This isn’t convenience — it’s digital telepathy.
2. Therapists Might Start Offering Memory Surgery
Severance workers get their brains literally compartmentalized, but strip away the corporate dystopia, and you’re left with incredible therapeutic potential. PTSD sufferers could have traumatic memories surgically dulled. Addiction specialists might target the neural pathways that trigger cravings. Depression patients could get their default emotional settings recalibrated at the neurological level. Companies like Kernel are already mapping brain activity with unprecedented precision. Military research into memory manipulation continues advancing, ostensibly to help veterans but with broader applications. The ethical debates will be fierce, but desperate patients won’t wait for philosophers to reach consensus. Underground memory clinics could emerge, offering services that traditional medicine won’t touch.
3. Privacy Became a Luxury Good While You Weren’t Looking
Both shows treat constant surveillance as background noise. Characters accept being watched, tracked, and analyzed because the alternative means opting out of modern life entirely. Sound familiar? Social media already knows your political views better than your family does. Your car reports your driving habits to insurance companies. Smart speakers record conversations even when supposedly asleep. The next step isn’t more surveillance — it’s making people grateful for it. Cities will monitor air quality and automatically adjust traffic to reduce pollution. Wearable devices will detect illness before symptoms appear, potentially saving millions of lives. The generation raised on TikTok won’t see this as oppression. They’ll see it as civilization finally getting its act together.
4. Your Job Will Own You (And You’ll Thank Them)
‘Severance’ workers surrender their personal memories for workplace efficiency, but real companies are pursuing the same goal through different methods. Amazon already provides company housing in some locations. Tech giants offer on-site meals, healthcare, childcare, and entertainment. The logical endpoint? Corporate citizenship where leaving your job means losing your entire support network. Spotify employees might get exclusive access to new music. Netflix workers could receive early screening privileges. Google staffers might get priority booking for self-driving cars. These aren’t just perks — they’re psychological anchors that make job mobility nearly impossible. The line between employee benefits and behavioral control will disappear entirely.
5. Clothes That Think Are Coming Whether You’re Ready or Not
In Ironheart, Riri essentially wears her emotions on her sleeve, literally. Her suit responds to her mental state and physical needs without conscious input. Fashion tech companies are racing to make this real. Prototype fabrics already change color based on temperature or mood. Smart clothing monitors vital signs and adjusts temperature accordingly. Contact lenses with built-in displays exist in early forms. The military is testing uniforms that provide real-time battlefield information directly to soldiers’ visual cortex. Within a decade, wearing “dumb” clothes will feel like using a flip phone. Your outfit will know if you’re stressed, tired, or getting sick. It’ll adjust accordingly and probably suggest lifestyle changes through gentle haptic feedback.
6. Work-Life Balance Through Personality Surgery
Severance literalizes what millions already experience: becoming different people at work versus home. Virtual reality meetings are primitive compared to what’s coming. Full-body haptic suits will make remote collaboration feel physically present. AI assistants will manage different aspects of personality for different contexts — more aggressive for negotiations, more collaborative for team projects, more creative for brainstorming sessions. People will customize their professional personas like video game characters, optimizing traits for specific career objectives. The authentic self becomes a luxury reserved for close friends and family. Everyone else gets the algorithmically optimized version designed for maximum professional success.
7. Algorithms Will Run Your City Better Than Politicians
Both shows feature worlds where human decision-making has been largely automated. Traffic lights that respond to real-time congestion patterns already exist. Police departments use predictive analytics to deploy officers before crimes occur. Courts employ AI to recommend sentences based on historical data and recidivism rates. Citizens increasingly prefer algorithmic fairness to human judgment, especially when human judgment seems biased or incompetent. Why let corrupt city councilors decide budget allocations when AI can optimize resource distribution mathematically? Why trust politicians to set policies when machine learning can predict outcomes with unprecedented accuracy? Democracy will persist as theater, but actual governance will happen in server farms.