If Saturn eventually lost its rings, the planet would remain Saturn, but its appearance and the environment around it would change dramatically. Ring particles are already falling into the planet through processes often called “ring rain,” though estimates of the rings’ remaining lifetime are uncertain on human timescales.
Saturn without its broad rings would still be a giant planet with its atmosphere, moons, magnetic field, and rapid rotation. What would disappear is the feature that makes it instantly recognizable from Earth. The rings are spectacular, but they are not a permanent solid structure attached to the planet.
The rings consist mostly of countless particles, many rich in water ice. NASA research has shown material moving out of the ring system and into Saturn, a process commonly described as ring rain. Estimates have placed the lifetime of the present ring system on the scale of tens to hundreds of millions of years, depending on which loss processes and measurements are considered. That is “temporary” astronomically, but unimaginably long compared with a human life.
A ringless Saturn would also change the scientific environment around the planet. Today the rings interact with Saturn’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere, and their particles provide clues about the system’s history. Losing them would remove an active laboratory for studying disks, particle dynamics, and interactions between a planet and surrounding material.
There would be no sudden morning when the rings simply blinked out. The relevant processes are gradual, and scientists continue to refine the rings’ age and lifetime. The interesting part of the question is therefore not whether Saturn survives—it does—but that one of the solar system’s most familiar sights may represent a particular chapter rather than Saturn’s permanent appearance.