Will a 4-day workweek define the future? ChatGPT forecasts life in 2035

A Glimpse into the Future: What 2035 Might Look Like

My mind often drifts when I think about how the world will look in 10 years. After countless rewatches of Back to the Future Part II, I’m disappointed by the lack of flying cars, hoverboards, and self-tying sneakers. However, I’m still grateful for the arrival of advanced technology such as video game consoles, smartphones, and food delivery apps. Getting Wendy’s meals delivered to my home after midnight by someone on a speed bike sounds pretty advanced to me. With all that in mind, I looked at the landscape of 2025 and wondered how it would change over the next decade.

I reached out to an AI chatbot I use daily, ChatGPT, to see what its future outlook looks like. I also asked about the most in-demand professional roles that will exist in 2035. Here’s everything ChatGPT laid out for both scenarios.

A Day in the Life of 2035

ChatGPT became my crystal ball after I presented it with this prompt:

“Imagine the year is 2035. Describe what daily life looks like for an average person — including technology, work, transportation, health, environment, and culture. Be specific and realistic, but add a bit of optimism to your vision.”

Once it processed the directive, it provided an extensive breakdown of its hopeful future, split into several categories: morning, work, transportation, healthcare, environment, and evening.

Morning Routine

A typical morning in 2035 for the average person was predicted to feature an AI health assistant that would replace the traditional alarm clock. This assistant would wake users during the lightest stage of sleep based on their sleeping patterns. Electronic mirrors were said to be the norm, displaying a person’s sleep quality score, weather/air quality, public transportation/vehicle commute options, and health recommendations. Smart kitchens will be central to everyone’s morning, with various appliances automatically starting based on someone’s schedule, and AI assisting with meal planning suggestions.

Workday

The workday in 2035 will likely involve a hybrid schedule where most workers only go into the office one to three times a week. With a new job format that sees office professionals completing tasks in five to six hours with the help of AI assistants, ChatGPT predicted that companies would recognize improved efficiency by implementing shorter workweeks (four days, to be exact).

Transportation

Transportation in 2035 will be dominated by electric cars, self-driving vehicles, and e-bikes. A heavier reliance on on-demand ride shares will also come into play.

Healthcare

On the healthcare front, the theme of “prevention rather than treatment” will be of great importance. Wearable health devices that implement AI health platforms will constantly monitor people’s stats, flag abnormalities, and automatically schedule a doctor’s appointment to remedy that issue. Some of the more hopeful health breakthroughs include advanced cancer screening from blood tests, personalized medicine based on genetic profiles, and improved mental health tools using AI coaching.

Environment

ChatGPT continued its optimistic outlook by mentioning how global policy and technology shifts have done a great job of avoiding the worst outcomes of climate change. Infrastructure will be better prepared for extreme weather, neighborhoods will begin to utilize microgrids to generate and store their own energy on a local level, and renewable energy will be used more efficiently.

Evening

Culture and entertainment won’t change too dramatically in 2035, according to the AI. Streaming will still be part of everyone’s lives, and video games will still rule as a dominant entertainment platform. Augmented reality will be a major part of leisure experiences, such as holographic stats for players appearing during sporting events and social VR concerts. Even with such a major presence of tech-based activities, ChatGPT foresees people returning to offline experiences for their fun. Experiencing the great outdoors and playing board games were predicted to become popular again as people make an effort to “unplug” themselves from their digital lives.

Finally, ChatGPT noted how people will wind down in the evening in 2035. Smart homes will automatically adjust their lighting to support a better sleep session, their AI-assisted systems will suggest activities meant to make you fall asleep much faster, and companies will enforce “digital boundaries” that will stop work notifications after business hours.

The Most In-Demand Jobs in 2035

With my mind still centered on how the world will look in 2035, I presented ChatGPT with another prompt:

“What will be the biggest jobs in 2035?”

The following collection of 10 professional roles was said to be the most essential and relevant at that time, with some unsurprising picks and a few that would be pretty cool to see if they came to fruition:

AI trainers and AI behavior specialists: even highly advanced AI systems will still need human oversight and training
Climate and sustainability engineers: as countries continue addressing climate change, sustainability-focused careers will explode
Healthcare technology specialists: healthcare will become more personalized and data-driven
Robotics technicians and automation managers: this field will resemble today’s IT support industry, but focused on machines instead of computers
Cybersecurity and digital privacy experts: As everything becomes connected — homes, vehicles, medical devices — cybersecurity will become even more critical
Virtual world designers: this role creates demand for creators who design immersive spaces
AI-assisted creators and media producers: creative professionals won’t disappear — but their tools will change
Elder care and longevity specialists: technology will assist, but human caregivers will remain irreplaceable
Space industry workers: the space economy will expand significantly with commercial launches, satellites, and orbital infrastructure
Human skills coaches: ironically, as technology advances, human skills will become more valuable

Final Thoughts

ChatGPT’s promising layout of how 2035 will look across numerous categories gives me a sliver of hope for the future. Based on the trends I’m noticing in our current-day, I can totally picture the chatbot’s future becoming a reality. Even though technology has become such a core part of our lives, I’ve already begun noticing people embracing a preference for analog activities that are screen-free. Electric cars are all over the roads, people already rely on smart watches to monitor their health, and AI has become an integral element of the average office worker’s workload.

A future where workweeks are shorter, interactive films that let viewers explore their worlds through mixed reality technology, and major advancements in health studies are three of the most encouraging predictions I spotted from ChatGPT. And based on the most important jobs in 2035 that it also presented me with, it looks like most workers will learn to become more proficient in their use of technology while still maintaining a high level of importance when it comes to human interaction and ingenuity.