AI in 2026? Here's what will emerge

Forget the grand models of language. Three new types of artificial intelligence will change our daily lives, for the better. By Xavier Comtesse & Pascal Eichenberger

An article available in AGEFI (in French): https://agefi.com/actualites/opinions/lia-en-2026-voici-ce-qui-va-emerger

If 2025 was the year of LLMs (Language Models), with near-weekly announcements from tech giants, 2026 will be the year of personalized artificial intelligence (AI) agents. Just to give you an idea of what's in store, here are three projections.

1. "The Guardian Agent"

Security will be personal, effective, and hacker-proof. The personal security agent will evolve beyond simple intrusion detection. By 2026, it will be a true predictive prevention system. It will analyze, in real time from our smartphones, the user's physical and digital environment (geolocation, calendar, online behavior, home camera feeds) to anticipate risks with a key feature: identifying unusual behavioral patterns around the home, detecting sophisticated phishing attempts using voice cloning ("deepfake"), or monitoring vulnerabilities in the user's digital identity to prevent fraud.

But it also includes instant and contextual fact-checking. Faced with the explosion of information generated by AI, the need for verification is becoming critical. The fact-checking agent will no longer simply cross-reference textual sources; it will detect fake news. This agent will specialize in large-scale disinformation. It will act as a civic oversight system, going beyond simple fact-checking to assess intent.

2. "The Health Sentinel"

In medicine, we will see a proliferation of proactive self-diagnostic agents. These agents will evolve from static questionnaires to continuous health assistants. They will constantly analyze data from wearable devices (watches, sensors), biomarkers, medical history, and lifestyle habits. They will be able to detect early signs of illness (such as abnormalities in heart rate or sleep patterns) or mental health disorders before the onset of clear symptoms, recommending a timely specialist consultation.

This will therefore be augmented and personalized medicine. This partner for healthcare professionals will amplify human expertise by offering precision medicine to the patient. It will synthesize the entirety of global medical literature, imaging results (MRI, CT scans), and the patient's genetic profile to propose the most effective and personalized treatment options. It will help surgeons plan complex procedures and reduce inequalities in access to care by optimizing diagnoses in underserved areas.

3. “The Free Knowledge Market”

Knowledge will be universal, abundant, and free. After free information, here comes free knowledge. Universities, having already offered free AI courses like Stanford, will begin to offer open access to all kinds of knowledge fields. Only exams, and therefore diplomas, will be charged. The rest will be free.

Furthermore, "AI books" will give rise to a new generation of authors capable of creating long, structured content. We will no longer simply write with AI; we will be able to construct a complete work (novel, technical manual, research report) by managing the narrative arc, character consistency, documentation, and proofreading. The AI agent will act as a collaborator for the human author, managing the publication process, including legal aspects and copyright management.

By Xavier Comtesse & Pascal Eichenberger