UK Technology’s Impact on Society: 2026
Consumers have never been more connected, yet many are questioning whether constant connectivity is improving their lives.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for technology in society
- Opportunities
- Society will push back against tech omnipresence and overreach
- Smart glasses are testing society’s privacy limits
- Men advocate more strongly for technology in society
- Designing for women’s needs may be one of the technology sector’s biggest untapped growth opportunities
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THE MARKET
- Market background
- Technology is embedded in consumers’ lives
- Graph 1: personal ownership of technology, 2026
- Graph 2: household ownership of technology products, 2026
- Regulatory backdrop
- Laws come into force to protect consumers from AI harms
- Government sets out its vision for AI in society
- Regulatory framework signals a shift from innovation to responsibility for tech firms
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TECHNOLOGY’S IMPACT ON KEY SECTORS
- Retail
- Nearly two thirds of online shoppers are interested in AI or technology-assisted tools
- Graph 3: interesting in using emerging technologies when shopping online, 2025
- Agentic commerce moves from theory to retailer strategy
- Experiential and sensory retail experiences dial up the fun
- Younger consumers are keen on visual search to make fashion shopping easier
- Social media and online platforms
- Social media users are in favour of bans for children
- Graph 4: think social media platforms should be banned for under-16s, by age, 2026
- Anger drives online opinion sharing, and is driving some to cut back on platforms with too much negative content
- Graph 5: social media behaviours, 2025
- Foodservice
- Automation and convenience will play a key role in foodservice
- Graph 6: attitudes towards technology in foodservice, 2025
- Checkout-free will become commonplace in high-volume leisure destinations
- Leisure
- Technology’s role in delivering convenience and novelty will impact the leisure experience
- Graph 7: attitudes towards technology in leisure and foodservice, 2025
- Social media and online platforms
- Majority of younger people follow mental health advice from social media
- Graph 8: “I have followed mental health advice that I’ve seen on social media”, by generation, 2025
- Social media is blamed for negative mental health outcomes, but is also a source of support
- Graph 9: social media’s impact on mental health, 2025
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MARKET DRIVERS
- Meta lawsuit could reshape how consumer technology products are designed and regulated
- Protection and control sit at the heart of consumers’ rights
- Graph 10: key factors driving consumer behaviour around rights, 2025
- Older consumers show greater concern over AI’s prominence, but this doesn’t translate into rejection
- Graph 11: concerns over AI’s impact, 2023-25
- Uncertainty remains over AI’s impact on job market
- Brands look to move voice recognition to emotional recognition…
- …but consumers have tension between convenience and eavesdropping
- Graph 12: attitudes towards digital life, 2025
- Consumers’ lives are digital
- Graph 13: key factors driving consumer behaviour around technology, 2025
- Technology fatigue
- The response to digital overload is moderation, not rejection
- The future of technology in society
- The future of technology and media
- Consumers expect technology to reshape daily life, but mainly through practical, familiar and personally useful applications
- Graph 14: opinion on the likelihood of the following happening in the next 10 years (% any likely), 2024
- Tech will help homes and consumers adapt for a changing climate
- Consumers and online disinformation
- The rise of misinformation is eroding consumer trust
- Most are confident they can identify false information
- Surveillance tech in society
- AI facial recognition comes to high streets and shops
- Consumers accept surveillance, but only when the benefits are visible
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THE CONSUMER
- Technology’s influence in society
- The jury is still out on consumers’ relationship with technology
- Graph 15: attitudes towards the role of technology in society, 2026
- Consumers are more nuanced than enthusiastic about their relationship with technology
- Designing for women’s needs could unlock tech’s next growth phase
- Graph 16: attitudes towards consumers’ relationship with technology, by gender, 2026
- The consumer contradiction that defines their attitudes towards AI
- Technology connects people, but online connection alone doesn’t create community
- Graph 17: personally gained through technology (eg apps, websites), 2026
- However, some consumers are analogue by choice
- Women more likely to seek support online, while men focus on building networks and opportunities
- Technology’s social and profesional benefits are heavily concentrated among younger adults…
- Graph 18: personally gained through technology (eg apps, websites), by age, 2026
- …as is the role technology plays in their sense of belonging
- Graph 19: personally gained through technology (eg apps, websites), by age, 2026
- Attitudes towards online safety
- Overwhelming social consensus on the role of platforms in limiting harmful content
- Graph 20: attitudes towards online platforms moderation, 2026
- Even younger digital natives think platforms should take responsibility
- Graph 21: attitudes towards online platforms moderation, by age, 2026
- Consumers see child online safety as a shared responsibility problem
- Graph 22: attitudes towards harmful material online, 2026
- Brands can become trusted partners in family digital life
- Design platforms for purposeful engagement to ward off inevitable regulation
- Consumers will trade some privacy for a safer online environment
- Graph 23: attitudes towards online privacy, 2026
- Consumers support safer online spaces, but younger audiences are far less willing to sacrifice anonymity to achieve them
- Attitudes towards technology’s role in society
- Consumers have a trust deficit with technology’s role in society
- Graph 24: attitudes towards technology’s impact on cognitive ability, 2026
- Digital natives yearn for an offline past they barely experienced
- Consumers increasingly feel technology is taking control, not just capturing attention
- Graph 25: attitudes towards AI automation, 2026
- Even younger digital natives think platforms should take responsibility
- Graph 26: “I think my attention is being deliberately exploited by technology companies”, by age, 2026
- How brands can navigate an era of distrust in tech
- Attitudes towards smart glasses
- Gen Z is the most sceptical of smart glasses
- Graph 27: people who wear smart glasses in public concern me, by generation, 2026
- Point of View: you can’t buy cool, but you can create meaningfully inclusive tech products
- Smart glasses’ image problem has a fix: the curb-cut effect
- Technology’s impact on consumer behaviour
- Consumers are fatigued by constant observation and comparison
- Graph 28: technology’s role in consumer behaviour and personal status, 2026
- The always-online generation increasingly feels always observed
- Human interaction is becoming a premium feature
- Graph 29: attitudes towards technology in human connection, 2026
- The rise of the woebot
- Against a trust deficit in tech, authenticity, transparency and human expertise will shine
- Graph 30: attitudes towards technology in human connection, 2026
- Technology is about to have its “big tobacco” moment
- Graph 31: attitudes towards digital wellbeing and toxicity, 2026
- Attitudes towards the use of facial recognition CCTV
- Consumers are conflicted over AI security measures
- Graph 32: attitudes towards facial recognition CCTV in public areas, 2026
- CCTV facial recognition can help older consumers feel more comfortable on the high street
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APPENDIX
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- UK generation groups
- Abbreviations
"As society becomes more digitally dependent, consumers will increasingly judge technology on its impact on wellbeing, trust, and personal control. The greatest opportunities will come from technologies that empower people rather than automate them away."
Joe Birch, Senior Technology and Leisure Analyst
Consumers have never been more connected, yet many are questioning whether constant connectivity is improving their lives. Growing digital fatigue and nostalgia for offline experiences are reshaping expectations of technology and challenging long-held assumptions about convenience.
The industry is shifting from an innovation-first era to one defined by accountability, transparency, and regulation. As autonomous technologies and AI-powered services become more commonplace, organisations face growing pressure to demonstrate how decisions are made and whose interests they serve.
One of the biggest threats is that consumers increasingly see digital wellbeing as a societal issue, not just a personal one. Concerns about toxic masculinity, polarisation and online harms suggest audiences are scrutinising the role platforms play in shaping culture, creating opportunities for brands that foster healthier communities, stronger social norms and more positive forms of connection.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- How technology is embedded across all facets of society, including leisure, retail and online life
- The escalating consumer distrust driven by privacy, surveillance and data-misuse concerns
- The commercial implications of increasing regulatory scrutiny on AI and digital services
- The growing importance of transparency and accountability as AI becomes embedded in everyday services and decision making
- Why technology acceptance is increasingly shaped by emotional and societal factors rather than capability alone
- Commercial upside for brands as demand for human-centric technology is growing as consumers seek a better balance between connectivity, privacy, and control
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