Despite, or perhaps because, I spend a lot of time reading about, watching and discussing GenAI I’m not an adopter of the technology. While the environmental impacts of the technology are widely discussed, the lack of transparency in the industry means there is little concrete data available to give us accurate insights into the scale of that impact. There are some interesting studies in the pipeline that will shed more light on this topic and I’ll be covering these in future newsletters.

There are other areas where the impacts, good and bad are more obvious. Many of these impacts feature in the predictions being made for the sector in 2026. Elsewhere there are some other unexpected things happening as a result of GenAI…

Whether you’re a regular user of the biggest models or a total skeptic, it can’t have escaped your notice that warnings of the AI bubble bursting in 2026 are coming more and more regularly. This article in the Guardian warns that revenues are unlikely to rise fast enough to cover the huge investment costs the sector has taken on. The World Economic Forum lays out a credible set of scenarios as to why the bubble may or may not burst and the ripples this might cause here.

The word “bubble” doesn’t feature in Tech Crunch’s predictions but they do suggest that “The party isn’t over, but the industry is starting to sober up”. Their article warns that the industry’s focus on scaling up might become less impactful. Related to this, they point to the rise in SLMs (Small Language Models) that outperform some of their larger competitors and suggest they will be a key part of the picture in the coming year. Once the hype around the industry dissipates I do think this might be the future of the sector. Projects like Collectivally aim to purposefully and impactfully use the technology on a smaller scale.

MIT Sloan do talk about a bubble in their predictions but they think it will deflate rather than burst. A gradual “deflation” would allow time for reflection and help the global economy to weather market revaluations. Pragmatically I hope this is true, though I would like to see some of the companies that have aligned themselves with the current US regime being more materially impacted, though I’m not sure that the two hopes go hand in hand. Elsewhere in their article they see GenAI becoming an organisational tool more than a value-realising one and predict that Agentic AI is still years away from becoming the force the industry tells us it will be.

The University of California predictions focus more on the existential than the commercial. The professors questioned are more worried about widespread economic upheaval than MIT Sloan. They also have concerns over how GenAI, misinformation and deepfakes are eroding trust and harming political discourse. Other concerns include privacy risks stemming from Chatbot logs, increased isolation for some and how the technology can and will harm worker’s rights.

More optimistically they do point to the potential to AI-enabled discoveries that enrich and benefit us all.

As we head into 2026 with AI still dominating the tech news headlines, what other trends are emerging? As with any good story, the rise of a given technology also gives rise to a plucky band of rebels. In this case we can substitute Skynet for companies like Google, Meta and X.

In the fight for a more Humane Web I’ve noticed a nostalgic desire for the web as it used to be (only better). Rather than harking back to the good old days(?), a growing number of designers and developers want a web that has all the benefits of modern coding and technology married to the independent, vibrant and innovative spirit of the early days of the internet.

This thoughtful article by web creative Henry Desroches does an brilliant job of summarising the frustration felt by many digital professionals. It acts as a call to arms against the engagement farming, doom scroll encouraging, black box algorithm run internet that we experience today.

As Henry suggests, with a little creativity, care and coding, we can ‘build the Web We Want’, by humans for humans.

On the same theme ‘Spite House: AI, disintermediation and the end of the free web’ is an incredibly lucid and engaging treatise from content strategist Lauren Pope. Content designers like Lauren are at the sharp end of the changes AI is bringing to the digital economy. As Lauren puts it ‘AI has crashed into the content discovery ecosystem, content publishers have felt the impact’.

Independent writers are seeing less traffic to their content. AI summaries and chat-bots are consuming and regurgitating their work to the detriment of their working lives. I love the power in Lauren’s writing here, as she promises to build her own digital Spite House as a monument to the free web.

Heartfelt and vital writing.

It’s not just independents who are manning the barricades. Organisations like Check My Ads are also holding big tech to account. Like the Open Web Advocacy group featured in my last email Check My Ads are working to build a fairer internet for all of us.

Their mission to ‘protect your right to be free from scams, lies, and manipulation online’ couldn’t be more important in the light of online misinformation that is rife in 2026.

Their power, zeal and resilience gives me hope as we head into the new year.

Don’t forget, we want to hear more from you, the Curiously Green community! If you’re heard or read something that may be of interest, please share any links, and your thoughts with us.

Even better, we’d love to know what you’re working on. If you have any case studies or projects you’d like to share, or new approaches you’ve tried that may be of interest, this is a great way to share with like minded folk so please head over to our submission form and tell us all about it!

We can’t wait to hear from more of you. 💚