Welcome to the 11th edition of MIDiA’s annual predictions report. The world has changed a lot since our inaugural 2016 edition. The core predictions in that report (video will eat the world, messaging apps will accelerate) are now foundational layers of today’s digital economy. 2016 was a tipping point – nearly a decade after the launch of the first iPhone, mobile finally replaced computers as the nexus of the digital economy. 

In 2026, an equally profound set of changes are coming into play. While AI might be the driving technological force, it is largely catalysing a set of pre-existing forces, just as mobile did a decade earlier. We are living in a digital world that is defined by paradox: culture is fragmenting, yet tech and business are consolidating; consumer tastes are more diverse than ever, yet aesthetics are homogenising; audiences are more connected than ever, yet people and society have perhaps never been more divided; it is easier than ever to create content and to surface it to the world, yet increasingly difficult to have it discovered. 

Entertainment companies, tech, and creators alike are facing a bewildering array of questions and choices: can you be AI first AND creator first? Does the rate of human endeavour slow as AI and other tech assumes more of the creative process? Will AI narrow the possibilities of human inquisitiveness and creativity? If AI is only used at scale for what it is best at, will it be profitable enough? Are we reaching the end of the open internet? Will masses of AI content and bot accounts result in the‘dead internet’ theory coming to fruition? Can culture survive the ‘context collapse’?

Throughout 2026, MIDiA will endeavour to answer many of these questions in our reports, data, and analysis, starting with this 2026 predictions report. We hope you find it as interesting and thought provoking to read as we did writing it.