This interview was recorded live at an event in San Francisco, California. We also talked about environmental justice and face mites.

It’s tempting to think of science fiction as solely the stuff of improbable futures or dystopian nightmares— flying cars, omniscient computers, miraculous medicine, and even time travel. But if you’re an avid reader or consummate Trekkie, you might notice these fantastical futures taking your mind all the way back to the news stories and social issues of 2019.

Science fiction writers and Hugo-winning podcast hosts Annalee Newitz (author of The Future Of Another Timeline) and Charlie Jane Anders (author of The City In The Middle Of The Night) talk about their work imagining future worlds and new kinds of technology—plus how all of this fiction traces back to the present. They discuss how Wikipedia edit wars can inspire a story about time travel, and how the way the modern climate crisis is shaping stories that question human roles in ecosystems thousands of years and light years away.

Then, AI ethicist Rumman Chowdhury joins to discuss how social science can help the tech industry slow down and think more responsibly about the future they’re helping to build. She suggests that more companies should be asking how technologies could be abused or have unintended consequences before they’re released, and even ask if some, like facial recognition, should be developed at all.

Further Reading

• Read more about Annalee Newitz’s book, The Future Of Another Timeline.
• Read Charlie Jane Anders’s book, The City In The Middle Of The Night.
• Find out more about the future of AI and how it involves social science.