Steven Lafortune
Arthur Conan Doyle noted that “healthy skepticism is the basis of all accurate observation” — a viewpoint that his legendary character Sherlock Holmes would certainly agree with!
For this month’s poll question, we want you to look past the hype and share: What emerging tech are you the most skeptical about?
Here are a few ideas with some possible reasons for skepticism:
- Autonomous AI agents (overpromise vs. reliability, safety)
- Copilots for everything (weak ROI, data/privacy risks)
- Fully self-driving Level 4/5 at scale (edge cases, regulation)
- eVTOL flying taxis (battery limits, infrastructure, cost)
- Consumer AR glasses (battery/heat, privacy, no killer app)
- The metaverse 2.0 (retention and content gaps)
- Quantum computing timelines (error correction, practical use)
- Fusion power in five years claims (grid-scale economics)
- Direct Air Capture at scale (energy intensity, storage permanence)
- Cultivated/lab-grown meat (bioreactor scaling, cost)
- Web3/blockchain for non-financial apps (PMF, security, governance)
- Hydrogen for passenger cars (infrastructure, efficiency vs. BEV)
- Small Modular Reactors as cheap and fast (licensing, cost)
- Biodegradable/compostable plastics (needs industrial conditions)
- Longevity/rejuvenation therapies (human evidence, reproducibility)
- Brain-computer interfaces for consumers (safety, utility, ethics)
- Smart-home IoT AI hubs (security, standards, shelf life)
Again, these are just some ideas to spark your thinking. You are welcome to list one tech trend that you’re skeptical about, or list multiple.
Please also share a few words on why you’re not as optimistic as some others.
Are you concerned about security risks? Potential abuse? Unrealistic cost and resource expectations? Ethical issues? Let us know what’s on your mind!
You could win
By participating in the poll and sharing what’s on your mind, you’ll be automatically entered to win one of two $25 Amazon gift cards (please see full contest rules here). We will announce the lucky winners when we look at the results in early December.
Thank you in advance for participating, and we look forward to seeing what tech trends that you think have some interesting promise, but still have a long way to go before the potential could turn into reality — and the headlines truly live up to the hype.
