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New Tech & AI — What's Coming Next

Technology is moving faster than ever. Here's what's coming next — the breakthroughs, the risks, and how to stay ahead. From next-gen AI to quantum computing, we track what matters so you're not caught off guard.

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Meta / Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Released 2024-2025 • Ongoing concerns

Meta's smart glasses look like normal Ray-Bans but have a built-in camera, microphone, speaker, and AI assistant. They can record video, take photos, and stream live to social media — all with a small LED indicator that is easily obscured (with tape, a sticker, or by covering it with your finger).

⚠ The Risk for Victims

Recording without consent: Someone can record you in a changing room, toilet, or private setting. The LED indicator is small and easy to block.
Facial recognition stalking: The AI can identify people in public and feed data into apps that track your location and habits.
Social engineering: A scammer wearing glasses can record your card details as you type your PIN, capture passwords as you type them, or record private conversations for blackmail.
Live streaming abuse: A domestic abuser can livestream a victim without their knowledge — the recording goes straight to the cloud.

🛡 What to do: Be aware of anyone wearing glasses that look slightly bulky. Check for the tiny LED indicator. If you suspect you're being recorded, speak up and move away. Report non-consensual recording to the police.

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AI Voice Cloning Devices

Amplified by new hardware • 2025-2026

Devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 have built-in microphones and cameras that are always listening. While designed for convenience, they create a massive surveillance risk. A compromised AI device records everything you say and do — including your banking passwords, private conversations, and daily routines.

⚠ Scam angle: Scammers can use AI voice cloning to impersonate you using samples recorded by your own devices. If your AI pin is hacked, they have a library of your voice, your location data, your contacts, and your habits. Turn off always-listening features unless you absolutely need them.

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Smart Home Devices & Privacy

Ring, Alexa, Google Nest • 100M+ devices in UK

Smart home devices are incredibly useful — and incredibly vulnerable. Hacked Ring cameras have been used to spy on children. Compromised Alexa devices have recorded private conversations and sent them to random contacts. Smart doorbells can be used by stalkers to track when you come and go.

Ring/Nest Cameras

Secure your account with 2FA. Change default passwords. Disable sharing with third parties.

Smart Speakers

Mute button when having private conversations. Review and delete voice history regularly.

Smart Doorbells

Turn off cloud recording if not needed. Check who has access. Disable geotracking.

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Wearables & Location Tracking

Apple Watch, Fitbit, GPS trackers

Your smartwatch tracks your location, heart rate, sleep patterns, and daily movements. This data is a goldmine for stalkers and domestic abusers. Shared fitness tracking (like Apple Watch activity sharing or Strava) can reveal your exact location and routine to people you may not want to have it.

Apple Watch: Check who can see your activity data in the Fitness app. Turn off shared activity if you're concerned about a specific person.
AirTags & Smart Tags: Criminals use AirTags to track vehicles and people. iPhone users get alerts if an unknown AirTag is following them. Android users need to download the "Tracker Detect" app.
Fitness apps: Turn off location sharing on Strava, Nike Run Club, and similar apps. Use "privacy zones" to hide your home address.

🚀 Upcoming AI & Tech — What to Watch

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AGI & Advanced AI Assistants — Expected 2027-2029

The next leap in AI isn't better chatbots — it's AI that can plan, reason, and take actions across multiple systems. Imagine an AI assistant that books your travel, manages your finances, files your taxes, and negotiates your bills. Now imagine that same AI being used by criminals to automate personalised scams at scale — thousands of unique phishing emails, each one tailored to a specific person, sent simultaneously.

⚠ The risk: Hyper-personalised scams that use your purchase history, location data, and social media activity to create scams so realistic you won't spot them. Defence: always verify through independent channels. Never trust an AI that asks for money.

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Apple Vision Pro 2 & Spatial Computing — 2026-2027

Spatial computing headsets (Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest Pro) will become mainstream. These devices map your physical environment in real-time, track your eye movements, and record everything you see and hear. The data collected by these devices is unprecedented — your home layout, your daily habits, the people you interact with, and even what you're looking at.

⚠ The risk: A hacked spatial computing headset gives criminals a 3D map of your home, your daily routine, and your biometric data (eye tracking, voice patterns). This data could be used for blackmail, burglary planning, or identity theft. Keep firmware updated. Don't buy second-hand headsets without factory resetting.

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Quantum Computing — Breaking Encryption (2030+)

Quantum computers are coming, and they will break most current encryption — RSA, AES-128, and your banking security. This isn't science fiction: researchers estimate a 30-50% chance of quantum breaking RSA-2048 by 2032. When this happens, encrypted communications, digital signatures, and secure transactions will all be vulnerable.

🛡 What's being done: Post-quantum cryptography standards are being developed by NIST (US) and NCSC (UK). Banks and governments are already migrating. You don't need to do anything now, but be aware: “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks are already happening — criminals are stealing encrypted data today to decrypt it with quantum computers in 10 years.

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Real-Time Deepfake Video Calls — Already Here

Real-time deepfake video for Zoom, FaceTime, and WhatsApp calls is available today for under £50/month. Scammers can now put a different face on a live video call. The famous example: a finance worker in Hong Kong transferred $25M after a deepfake video call with who he thought was his CFO. This technology is improving monthly.

⚠ The risk: Expect deepfake video scams to become routine by 2027. Defence: always verify video calls with a callback to a known number. Agree on a code word with family and colleagues for sensitive requests. The technology will get cheaper, faster, and harder to detect.

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AI-Powered Cybercrime Syndicates — Already Operating

Criminal groups are already using AI to automate their operations. AI writes phishing emails that pass grammar checks (no more “Dear Sir, I am a Nigerian prince”). AI generates fake ID documents that fool verification systems. AI-powered voice bots call thousands of people simultaneously, adapting their scripts based on the victim's responses. The next generation of organised cybercrime will be AI-driven.

🦸 The fight back: White hat hackers are also using AI — to detect scams faster, trace crypto transactions, and identify criminal networks. The arms race is accelerating. We track both sides and report back to you.

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Stay Ahead of Emerging Tech Risks

New technology is exciting. But every new gadget is also a new tool for criminals. Before you buy, ask yourself: what data does this collect? Who can access it? What happens if it gets hacked? The answer will tell you if it's worth it.

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