The last war was an insurgency.
The next war will definitely include drones (and lots of them!), but will most likely include a near peer, as well as land and sea combat. Cyber, space, and missile combat will also be in play.
As with any war, boots on the ground are necessary to hold key terrain, even if it has been bombed to snot. Holding terrain requires not just troops, but also air support. Getting to the enemy requires sea and air power.
As we’ve seen from the Russian/Ukraine war, the Russians are fans of mid-20th century combat. The Chinese lack significant combat experience. How to fight and beat them is somewhat uncertain, specifically, where the key battles will take place and the tactics the Chinese will use.
Let’s hope the next war never takes place, and lets also hope it doesn’t involve nuclear weapons.
Imho there is a lot of new technology that is very classified—and we know nothing about it.
As you noted that probably includes space based weapons (that imho can hit ground/sea targets) for major powers.
The carriers would be easy to target (slow moving) and easy to hit targets for that kind of technology.
That is only a dozen or so targets even if all were out in the open ocean.
The old space treaty has been decorating circular files for decades.
I see carriers as analogous to the French Maginot Line—a throwback to the last war(s) doomed to failure in a major conflict.