People have underestimated technology for thousands of years. I believe that if you can dream it, it will be possible some day. And then there is the stuff we don't even dream about yet..
I'm sure the technology will be there. Some day. Maybe we'll have Star Trek replicators that will build things molecule by molecule. Heck, by then, we won't likely even be using knives in the traditional sense, and they'll have been replaced by lightsabers or monofilament blades, or something of that ilk.
Even then, though, custom knives will still be a thing, if only because it's fun to bang on hot steel, and because, at the end of the day, we think it's cool to have something that was made by a skilled set of hands following historical methods. And what makes a knife valuable isn't just how it looks, etc. It's that it takes a distinct level of skill to generate something. For instance, we can render amazing images with a computer, but somehow, people still buy paintings. The value added is, in my opinion, primarily from the added skill and human aesthetic sense. Until we're making sentient machines, and even then, it's going to be a long time before machines will be capable of artistic vision. Being handmade, or forged, etc, is still a selling point, even though a serviceable, even beautiful blade, can be made from stock removal or CNC work. Maybe we could 3D print an elaborately engraved handle or something. But the value wouldn't be the same as a Warenski, because it's unskilled, and skill adds value. And, at the end of the day, there's a human craftsperson behind the machine. A 3D printer may one day be a viable tool for the craftsman to bring his vision to life, just as the modern 2x72 variable speed belt-grinder has become an essential tool in most knifemakers workshops, when 100 years ago, people didn't even imagine such a tool.
Does the fact that we have a belt grinder make you think that custom knives are no longer a thing?
Until we create machines that are capable of artistic vision AS well as the utterly complex nature of a knife and getting the heat treat down, (and we'll probably create Terminators that will destroy our civilization before that happens), there will always be custom knives, and other pieces of artwork, made by skilled craftspeople. And if the tech is there, people will marvel even more that a custom knife can be made WITHOUT the tech, and will value it all the more.
