Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.There is a trend for pundits, reaching January and short of better ideas because nothing much is happening, to resort to writing “five trends for the coming year” articles. They do this in the certain knowledge that no one will remember any of their predictions if they are wide of the mark, though, should any somehow prove prescient, they will definitely post them later on social media. So here are some of my completely reliable and unfalsifiable predictions for 2025.1. The end of something. No set of new year trends is complete without a “wave goodbye to something” prediction. Vinyl records, petrol cars, books, newspapers, traditional TV networks, Emmanuel Macron, American democracy. Such forecasts almost always write things off far too early but they can be defended on the grounds of being directionally correct.2. This will be the year of . . . At this point the writer picks a technology that has been around for a while but has not quite taken off and predicts this will be the year of its breakthrough.3. This will be the breakthrough year for DeFi (decentralised finance). See, this is what I’m talking about. I don’t really understand decentralised finance but I know it’s a blockchain thing and it’s quite serious and I’m betting you don’t understand it either. So as long as I have just a smidgen more knowledge than you and have grabbed a couple of sentences from ChatGPT, I can project myself as someone really in touch with tech and finance trends. DeFi is the next frontier of financial services and with Donald Trump in the White House and surrounded by people like Elon Musk and, er, well people like Elon Musk, this could be the year that DeFi goes mainstream. It probably won’t but just suggesting it makes me look ahead of the game4. The retreat from homeworking. Bosses always hated it so expect another major push back on WFH. As long as you know at least one person who is told they have to come in more often, that’s another big tick for me.5. This will be the breakthrough year for the metaverse. OK, no, it won’t be. The metaverse — that virtual world where people interact with each other as avatars — is still rubbish. No one’s got a clue how to use it outside gaming and the spectacles are still ridiculous.6. Economics. It will be really important this year. It may even be a breakthrough year for a big economic trend. Maybe inflation. Or maybe something else. But it will roil governments that aren’t ready. Also the return of animal spirits in the US. This seems like a good thing. But it could also be a bad thing. It’s a jungle out there.7. The year of AI. Well, obviously, I needed one of these. AI could be really big this year. I mean huge — bigger than last year, and last year was also big. There will be some transformative breakthroughs in the AI space, perhaps on agents or maybe on the medical side. AI will make a major push into the workplace, some of which will be really significant but much of which will be mainly due to businesses feeling they ought to have an AI play. It will definitely play an important role in securing a lot of second-class degrees. World leaders will meet in Paris to discuss how to build a “public interest”, while tech leaders carry on doing whatever they were planning to do before. 8. The climate crisis. Get real, that’s so last year. 9. Bitcoin will hit a new record high of $130,000 before falling back substantially. I’m sorry I can’t be precise on the timings here.10. The return of Germany. The return? Where has it been? It was still there last time I looked. Was there a hole in the middle of Europe that I missed? What happened to the Danube? Did it stop in Austria? Oh, I see — you were speaking metaphorically. 11. There will be a new war somewhere. Ideally, this will be in a country that you don’t really know. Also an existing war will end. But I’ll hedge my bets by predicting that peace will prove fragile.12. Tensions over Taiwan. Let’s be clear: I’m not predicting conflict, but golly, it’s a tough one, so deepening tension feels like a mature bet.13. The Cybertruck. I’m telling you. Everyone will want one. Or maybe an electric Jaguar. One of the two. Or maybe this is the year of the cyclist.14. Let’s do this all again next year. Email Robert at magazineletters@ft.comFind out about our latest stories first — follow FT Weekend Magazine on X and FT Weekend on Instagram
