The Future of Futurism in the age of AI

The Future of Futurism in the age of AI 
By Futurist Gerd Leonhard
1) When AI Predicts Everything… What’s Left for Foresight Professionals and Futurists?
If you work in forecasting, foresight, or futurism—like I do—something big is happening right now. And it’s going  to change our field more than most people realize: Because prediction, or shall we say insights, foresight, and observations - the core of what futurists have done for decades - is becoming automated.
Personally, I have never really liked the ‘predictions’ concept—it’s too megalomaniac in many ways. I prefer OBSERVATIONS—but either way, what I am sharing here today applies just the same. 
2) Prediction is becoming infrastructure
For a long time, forecasting was a human craft. Experts studied signals. Analysts connected dots. Futurists built scenarios. But now? AI models predict markets, weather, disease spread, consumer behavior, elections—even wars. Prediction is slowly turning into a utility.
The competitive advantage is no longer: “Who is best at predicting?” It’s becoming: Who has access to the best predictive systems—and who knows best how to use them.
Prediction engines are being embedded into everything:
logistics
finance
HR
media
policing
governance
and of course—the military (now that is a scary thought)
And when something becomes automated—even at a basic level—it fades into the background. Just like electricity or water. Few people applaud electricity, but try living without it. 
That’s the future of prediction: invisible, but deeply embedded in everything, making us utterly dependent on AI tools.
3) The real shift in scarcity
If machines can forecast faster and more accurately than humans… then raw foresight loses its mystique. Data-driven prediction becomes a commodity. Half of my own work is touched by this shift!
The real question becomes: What remains uniquely human? What becomes rare?  I think the scarce skills of the future are no longer accurate prediction or great observation. They are:
Interpretation: Understanding context, nuance, and meaning—the things that data cannot capture.
Framing: Putting facts into a meaningful perspective.
Intuition: Looking at thousands of signals and asking: What does this actually add up to, and what is likely to become a major driver?
Values and ethics: Just because something could be done doesn’t mean it should.
And most importantly: Story. The real currency of the future is narrative, because prediction tells us: “Here is what is likely to happen.” But narrative tells us: “Here is what it means.”
And as predictive outputs are becoming widely available with increasingly better AI, the role of futurists shifts toward asking better questions:
Which predictions deserve our attention?
Which risks should we take seriously?
Which futures are we normalizing but should be questioned?
Who benefits—and who gets left behind?
And perhaps the biggest question of all: Does this future move us toward a good future—or away from it?
And there’s the catch: Meaning is never neutral. Meaning is always… political. And that’s where things get really interesting—if you work in the Futures field, you are by default working in policies and politics now. There is no escaping this fact.
4) The big paradox
The more forecasting becomes driven by AI and data… the more human storytelling matters. Not less. More.
And that creates several tensions we’re already starting to see.
Technocracy vs. democracy: The model might say: “This outcome is optimal.” But society might respond: “Is this really a good idea, is it desirable?”
Statistical truth vs. social legitimacy: A prediction can be perfectly accurate… and still feel deeply wrong to many people.
Optimization vs. values: Efficient outcomes are not always ethical ones (in fact, they usually aren’t).
5) Who gains power?
As this shift unfolds, several groups gain influence.
Platform owners: Because they control the predictive engines (and in my humble opinion, they already have way too much unchecked power)
Institutions: Because they decide which predictions shape policy (and they will need serious help with this)
Media ecosystems: Because they influence interpretation.
Influencers and thought leaders: Because they translate uncertainty into belief.
And finally: Creators. HUMAN creators: Because they are the people who build the narratives that help society understand what’s happening.
We are entering a new era.
An era where: Algorithms observe and predict…and humans argue about what those predictions mean, and whether we should pursue them. And that argument— the debate about meaning, values, and direction— that becomes the real arena.  The most important work of the future? Designing the story of the future, THE GOOD FUTURE— a future worth building.
Finally, let's remember: the future is better than we think - But only if we design it wisely, together!