ChatGPT exposes the hidden trends in 2025 prediction reports
"By creating trend reports stuffed with catchy buzzwords, humans teach AI to prioritise these same repetitive ideas."
There will be many synergies in 2025. And you'd best believe there will be disruption, seamless journeys and data-driven wins as agile pathfinders circle back to double down on more tasty helpings of low-hanging fruit.
Such is the language you'll find in the festive publications we look forward to every winter: predictions reports.
It's almost Christmas here on Planet Earth, which means one thing to journalists. Our inboxes are filled with forecasts about the 12 months ahead, such as Machine's 2025 security roundup. Thanks to everyone that contributed.
Company websites and social feeds are also packed with 2025 trends white papers, which often achieve a sizeable chunk of traffic.
We are drowning in predictions. But this time, it's different because there's an eerie similarity between many of the reports.
Why? Because GenAI probably wrote a lot of them. This year, we believe a large proportion of vendors' 2025 prediction white papers are produced or heavily edited by ChatGPT.
In what ChatGPT might refer to as the dynamic landscape of copywriting, there is an awful lot of bots.
But can we ever actually prove that?
Gen AI and the Trend of Trends
StJohn Deakin, a privacy-first data pioneer and CEO of DataSapien, decided to discover the "trend of trends" within "hundreds" of reports about what will be hot in 2025. Read our interview with Deakins here.
He also uploaded a series of meta-analyses that aggregated data from multiple studies, reports, or sources to draw broader conclusions. ChatGPT crunched through the data to provide the overarching mega-trends that will characterise the next year.
What you notice is the same themes repeated througout the material.
The Trend of Trends shows us that people across sectors seem to say more or less the same thing about what to focus on next. Get ready for AI, prepare for new regulations, brace yourself for ESG friction and make sure you say the right things about making life better for people less fortunate than yourself.
Sustainability, digital transformation, and consumer-focused trends like affordability and personalisation appear across all reports. The ability of AI to drive innovation and operational efficiency is also hymned throughout the material.
"Many of the reports are probably written by analysts who are using GPT in some way (officially or unofficially) - so it all becomes a bit circular!" Deakin told Machine.
CLICK TO RED: The Top 10 Trends of Trends
1. Sustainability and circular economy
- Consumers and industries are prioritising sustainable practices. AI and innovative technologies are enabling circular economy models, reducing waste, and making eco-friendly choices easier.
2. Digital transformation and AI integration
- AI is reshaping industries by driving efficiencies, personalisation, and decision-making. Generative AI is a standout trend, transforming retail, marketing, and product development.
3. Affordability and value-oriented spending
- Economic pressures are prompting consumers to prioritise value without compromising quality. Private-label brands and cost-efficient luxury options are thriving.
4. Health and wellness focus
- Demand for health-conscious products and services remains strong, with consumers seeking functional foods, personalised health solutions, and mental well-being support.
5. Generational spending shifts
- Gen Z and 50+ consumers are key drivers of market dynamics, with Gen Z favouring digital-first experiences and older generations focusing on quality and comfort.
6. Hybrid consumer experiences
- Physical and digital worlds are blending, with trends like experiential retail, the metaverse, and augmented reality enhancing shopping and engagement.
7. Anti-overtourism and ethical travel
- Tourism is adapting to combat overtourism with sustainable travel initiatives, eco-tourism, and community-focused experiences.
8. Macro-economic adaptability
- Businesses and consumers are navigating inflation, debt burdens, and geopolitical instability by innovating and adapting their strategies.
9. Personalization and co-creation
- Consumers expect tailored experiences, from personalised shopping to co-created products, driven by advancements in data analytics and AI.
10. Technological innovation in industry
- The industrial metaverse, digital twins, and IoT are revolutionising operations, enabling real-time data integration, predictive analytics, and smarter workflow
(Written by ChatGPT)
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to prove that businesses are heavily using ChatGPT to write their trends reports - but we have strong suspicions. We asked the Trend of Trends report bot why the predictions feel so similar.
"The “built by AI” feel of Trends is the result of a feedback loop between humans and the large language models we train," ChatGPT told us, weirdly referring to itself as one of us.
"Humans, by creating trend reports stuffed with catchy buzzwords like 'synergies' and 'disruption' teach AI to prioritise these same repetitive ideas. When AI then reflects them back at us in its outputs, it reinforces the very clichés we provided, creating a cycle of unoriginality.
"But it’s not just the AI’s fault - it’s our love for familiar trends and predictable ideas that feeds into the system. LLMs are designed to replicate patterns, not invent wildly original concepts, so if we’re predictable, they’ll be predictable too. Essentially, AI becomes a mirror to our habits, amplifying the sameness of our trend culture."
If we keep on letting the machines do our homework, the result could be global homogenisation and a reduction in cultural diversity. Unless baby LLMs have nice, healthy, fresh data to eat when they're young, they won't grow up to be strong and original in their thinking.
We need to keep on making that nutritious data ourselves, rather than outsourcing it to LLMs.
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