Reddit is always asking interesting and thought-provoking questions. The latest from u/Infamous_Horse came from the r/Futurology subreddit, where they asked, “What current technology do you think will seem ridiculous in 50 years?”
Answers ranged from chemotherapy to physical keys. Users shared insightful, funny, and sometimes unsettling predictions about how fast innovation could make today’s everyday tools feel outdated and absurd.
Check out 18 of the most interesting answers on Reddit below.
1. Charging cables
“I think charging cables will probably seem ridiculous in 50 years. Like, ‘Wait, you had to physically plug in your devices every day?’”—u/Infamous_Horse
2. Dental work
“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that there are human trials underway that involve using a drug to regrow missing teeth. It could become widely available as early as 2030. I never imagined this would be possible in my lifetime.”—u/CarbonInTheWind
“Anything regarding present-day dental work will be seen as barbaric. Ditto for chemotherapy.”—u/cuppaseb
3. Loud engine noises
“Internal combustion engines, hopefully. I long for the day I don’t have to hear loud cars, chainsaws, mowers, etc…”—u/s0cks_nz
4. Trash
“‘Wait, you guys had like stacks of plastic cups next to a water cooler that you could’ve just drank out of with your mouth or your reusable cup… But instead, you literally took a plastic cup, had a few sips of water, then threw it in the garbage immediately? And that’s where all this garbage in the ground came from?’ 🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻♂️🥲😭”—u/notoriousToker
5. Medical devices
“Today’s CT scan machine will look ridiculous huge and silly in 50 years.”—u/lewisfairchild
“Hopefully, breast exams for cancer. That shit hurts I’m sitting waiting for the ultrasound and worrying, so great question.”—u/mrsn629
“A lot of medical procedures will be seen as how we look at those of the medieval times. That is unnecessarily cruel and ineffective.”—u/CasabaHowitzer
6. Car wrecks
“I hope car crash fatalities will be seen as a thing of the past with future autonomous vehicles working together to make the current number of car fatalities seem ridiculous”—u/TheSyn11
7. Gaming consoles
“Game consoles as we know them will get 1 or 2 more generations tops. They will be replaced with streaming services.”—u/Sarabando
8. ChatGPT
“AI. What we call AI today is not really intelligent. It’s just a correlation engine. I wonder if they will have real AI in 50 years.”—u/mattmann72
9. Air pollution
“Anything petrol related. I hope to live to see this city with zero emissions vehicles.”—u/gotele
10. The internet of things
“IoT. Nobody needs their toaster or toothbrush connected to the internet.”—u/jdlech
11. Medications and pills
“Medications for mental disorders, especially antipsychotics. I’m sure they will be seen the same like lobotomies nowadays.”—u/snaccerz
12. Banks
“Today’s Banking System: physical currency and ATMs, credit/Debit Cards and card machines, cheques, etc.”—u/Plastic_Ad_1106
13. Toilet paper
“Toilet paper. At least I hope so. It seems to be such a medieval method for something we use so much. It’s a waste, it’s unhygienic and causes all kinds of sewer problems.” —u/BrokkelPiloot
14. Selfie Sticks
“My other entry will be selfie sticks (i.e. narcisticks). To be fair, I think many people think they are ridiculous now. And for good reason.”—u/BrokkelPiloot
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