They are not predictions, roadmaps, or strategic recommendations. They are working documents designed to think with, not conclusions to agree with.
Each case brings together signals, research and cultural observations to explore plausible directions and the scenarios are deliberately partial. They represent fragments of possible (near) futures.
Signals will shift and assumptions will age (probably quicker than we think 🙂… and new evidence will challenge today’s framing.
So in that sense, these cases are invites, meant to be debated, adapted, expanded.
(this topic is an ongoing exploration since 2021 after an experiment with the Chatbot called “REPLIKA AI” )
Human connection is being reshaped by two simultaneous pressures.
First, many people experience time scarcity, social fragmentation and rising stress. Connection increasingly competes with work intensity, mobility and digital overload.
Then, a new class of systems has entered everyday life: AI companions that can listen, respond, remember and simulate emotional attunement. These systems are not just tools. They are becoming relationship-like interfaces.
AI companionship sits at a sensitive intersection. It can reduce friction in social support and provide moments of comfort or practice. At the same time, it can commodify intimacy, extract emotional data and potentially displace the effort that human relationships require.
This foresight case explores what human connection might look like when AI companionship becomes normalized.
Guiding question
How might human connection change by 2030 as AI companions become widely accessible, emotionally convincing and embedded across devices, platforms, and services?
This horizon scan maps signals across culture, behavior, technology, markets and regulation.