If you are trying to figure out what the future holds, looking back at old episodes of The Simpsons is honestly one of your best bets. Since the cartoon has been around for more than 35 years—spanning over 36 seasons and 800 episodes—it was pretty much inevitable that they would guess a few things correctly.
Still, Matt Groening and his team have been strangely spot-on with some of their crazier ideas, and their accuracy about Donald Trump becoming president or Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl performance is definitely going to be remembered forever. You could say they are just taking a lot of shots in the dark hoping something lands, but truthfully, even famous psychics like Baba Vanga can’t compete with the show’s track record, so it would be silly to assume they won’t get a few more right this year.
We could list thousands of guesses the show has made, but its focus on tech, space travel, aliens, and even the apocalypse feels the most significant today considering where we are as a society.
The Simpsons anticipated artificial intelligence would replace human workers
A major worry these days is how fast artificial intelligence is advancing and the risk that it might take over a huge chunk of our jobs. As it turns out, that is precisely the plot of “Them, Robot,” episode 17 from the 23rd season.
It won’t shock you to learn Mr. Burns was the one behind that choice, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see real-life billionaires following his lead in 2026, particularly as AI becomes increasingly capable. With the robot Olympics happening in China and regular people already relying on AI at work, the idea of an all-robot staff doesn’t feel impossible anymore, unlike in 2012 when the episode originally came out.
Space tourism: from scientific to Jet2 holiday for the ultrarich
Going to space is already becoming a real option for the super-rich, which we saw in early 2025 when Katy Perry flew up with Blue Origin, and since Jeff Bezos wants to make the International Space Station into a hotel, perhaps 2026 is when we finally see that happen.
The Simpsons actually proposed the idea of regular people going to space way back in 1994, when Homer—naturally—went up there as an astronaut. In “Deep Space Homer” (episode 15 of season five), the father of three gets launched into orbit because NASA wants a PR stunt to make space travel seem more accessible to average folks.
A lot of other mystics were sure aliens would reveal themselves in 2025, but that apparently didn’t happen—unless, of course, the government is hiding something.
Puns about World War III
A list of predictions wouldn’t be complete without bringing up WW3, especially since the threat hangs over everyone right now with global tensions at an all-time high. Throughout the show’s run, there have been a couple of nods to a potential third global conflict. In a short from 1987, Homer actually believes the war has kicked off and makes the family run to a makeshift bunker in the backyard.
Then there is a scene in “Lisa’s Wedding” where Lisa’s British fiancé, Hugh Parkfield, hangs out at Moe’s Tavern with Homer and Bart in the future.
Moe points out Hugh is British and brags that the US saved them in WW2, but Hugh replies that the British actually saved the Americans in WW3. Moe just agrees and says that is right.
Will we meet aliens in 2026!?
We hoped that 3I/ATLAS was actual extraterrestrials, but “The Springfield Files” (episode 10 from season eight) implies we are more likely to find aliens by mistake, featuring Homer getting a UFO enthusiast to help him before the rest of the town finally sees the truth.
Maybe we really should pay more attention to UFO sightings. Other future-set episodes showed kids hooked into digital realities—similar to what we see with META headsets—or folks using AI for medical care and housework, which already feels like it is starting to become normal.