The Tech That Will Invade Our Lives in 2026
By Brian X. Chen, The New York Times, January 8, 2026
As we step into 2026, consumer technology continues its rapid evolution, poised to transform our daily routines in ways both familiar and novel. Brian X. Chen, The New York Times’s lead consumer technology writer, offers a glimpse into the innovations set to influence our lives this year, separating enduring trends from fleeting fads.
A Look Back and Forward
Chen notes that some technologies, like smart homes, fitness gadgets, and electric cars, have appeared recurrently on his annual watchlist. While electric vehicles and fitness tech have gained significant traction, smart home technology still faces hurdles in seamless integration.
However, the most transformative force shaping technology today is generative artificial intelligence (A.I.), the engine behind popular chatbots. This A.I. surge is inspiring tech companies to pioneer new device categories that may eventually succeed the smartphone as our primary digital companions.
Meanwhile, public acceptance of self-driving vehicles is steadily increasing. Google’s Waymo robot taxis, benefiting from positive consumer sentiment, are expanding their presence in major cities, extending operations onto freeways and planning substantial growth throughout 2026. Trend to Watch: Talking to Our Computers
One of the most anticipated shifts is in how people interact with their computers through voice. For the past 15 years, tech giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon invested heavily in voice assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. Despite these efforts, everyday voice interactions with these assistants remain limited, mostly confined to simple tasks like checking the weather, playing music, or setting timers. Public use of these voice assistants is especially rare.
That scenario is likely to change this year. The soaring popularity of A.I.-powered chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude is normalizing conversational interactions with machines — albeit initially through text.
Experts like Lucas Hansen, founder of CivAI, a nonprofit focused on A.I. education, predict an imminent shift as A.I. voices become increasingly humanlike. This natural-sounding speech capability could encourage more people to verbally engage with their computers—even in public settings. Hansen observes, “More and more people are talking to A.I., not just as a search engine but as a conversational partner. If you can put in your headphones and talk to it just like you’re having a phone call, then it’s less obvious to random people walking by that you’re talking with an A.I.”
Looking Ahead
As 2026 unfolds, expect the lines between humans and machines in everyday conversations to blur further. The combination of sophisticated A.I. chatbots and voice technology may finally fulfill the long-held vision of truly conversational computing, transforming not only how we access information but how we communicate, work, and live.
For now, many are still catching a glimpse of these advances. As the year progresses, watch for more devices and services powered by generative A.I. that will become as integral to daily life as the smartphone is today.
Brian X. Chen is the author of "Tech Fix," a column about the social implications of the technology we use.
