Prince of Spires
Auror
Fantasy will have to change as more of the fantastical becomes real, but fantasy will suffer less from it than some other genres. Two examples where this scenario has already played out is in Sci-fi and in James Bond.
James Bond movies used to be about a bad-ass guy with cool gadgets saving the day. But over the years, the cool gadgets have been overtaken by gadget reality. There's one where a self-driving car is a major plot device, watches that do all sorts of cool stuff and so on. But many of the gadgets they came up with over the years have been overtaken by reality. Having a computer in our pocket that's over 100.000 times more powerful then what was used to put people on the moon has had that effect. As a result, the most recent Bond movies have had to change. Yes, there's still some gadgets in there. But it's more about the personal struggles and big CGI action shots then about those gadgets.
Same with Sci-Fi. If you watch star trek, even from the 90's, then some of the Sci-Fi is in the rockets they're flying. But just as much of it is in the technology they use to power those ships. Doors and elevators activated by voice commands, tablets, communicators, touch screen interfaces, computers that listened to your voice commands and did stuff. Those all contributed to the Sci-Fi feel of Star trek. And all of those have been overtaken by reality. As a result, Star trek has had to search for more fantastical Sci-Fi elements in newer series.
The effect of both of these is that the genre's have had to change. What the stories are about has changed and what the focus is has changed. This will also happen in fantasy as fantastical stuff becomes more real. The genre will change and will shift the emphasis from some elements to others. But people will remain interested in a hero who fights against the odds to overcome some goal.
James Bond movies used to be about a bad-ass guy with cool gadgets saving the day. But over the years, the cool gadgets have been overtaken by gadget reality. There's one where a self-driving car is a major plot device, watches that do all sorts of cool stuff and so on. But many of the gadgets they came up with over the years have been overtaken by reality. Having a computer in our pocket that's over 100.000 times more powerful then what was used to put people on the moon has had that effect. As a result, the most recent Bond movies have had to change. Yes, there's still some gadgets in there. But it's more about the personal struggles and big CGI action shots then about those gadgets.
Same with Sci-Fi. If you watch star trek, even from the 90's, then some of the Sci-Fi is in the rockets they're flying. But just as much of it is in the technology they use to power those ships. Doors and elevators activated by voice commands, tablets, communicators, touch screen interfaces, computers that listened to your voice commands and did stuff. Those all contributed to the Sci-Fi feel of Star trek. And all of those have been overtaken by reality. As a result, Star trek has had to search for more fantastical Sci-Fi elements in newer series.
The effect of both of these is that the genre's have had to change. What the stories are about has changed and what the focus is has changed. This will also happen in fantasy as fantastical stuff becomes more real. The genre will change and will shift the emphasis from some elements to others. But people will remain interested in a hero who fights against the odds to overcome some goal.