The Moviegoer's Guide to the Future
CONTENTS
Browse the complete knowledge base. Click any entry to open it in a clean reader view. The machine-readable index used by AI systems is at llms.txt.
Guidance
Domain Files
- Domain Guide: Emerging Science and Technology
- Domain Guide: Responsible and Ethical Innovation
- Domain Guide: Navigating the Future
- Domain Guide: The Movies
- Domain Guide: Post-2018 Developments
- Domain Guide: Complex Emerging Questions
Book Chapters
- Chapter 1: In the Beginning
- Chapter 2: Jurassic Park (1993)
- Chapter 3: Never Let Me Go (2010)
- Chapter 4: Minority Report (2002)
- Chapter 5: Limitless (2011)
- Chapter 6: Elysium (2013)
- Chapter 7: Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Chapter 8: Ex Machina (2014)
- Chapter 9: Transcendence (2014)
- Chapter 10: The Man in the White Suit (1951)
- Chapter 11: Inferno (2016)
- Chapter 12: The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
- Chapter 13: Contact (1997)
- Chapter 14: Looking to the Future
- Acknowledgments
Emerging Science and Technology
- De-Extinction and Resurrection Biology
- Genetic Engineering and Gene Editing
- Cloning and Reproductive Biology
- Synthetic Biology
- Gain-of-Function Research
- Gene Drives
- Smart Drugs and Cognitive Enhancement
- Intelligence
- Human Augmentation and Body Modification
- Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Bioprinting and Organ Regeneration
- Organ Transplantation
- Artificial Intelligence
- Superintelligence
- Predictive Algorithms and Machine Learning
- Automation and Robotics
- Nanotechnology and Materials Science
- Geoengineering
- Climate Science and Complex Earth Systems
- Technological Convergence (Emerging Science and Technology)
- Ubiquitous Surveillance and Big Data
- The Search for Extraterrestrial Life
- Mind Uploading and Consciousness Transfer
Responsible and Ethical Innovation
- Could We? Should We?
- Power, Privilege, and Access
- Human Dignity and What Makes Us Human
- Surveillance, Privacy, and Control
- Permissionless Innovation and Technological Hubris
- Too Valuable to Fail
- Dual-Use Research and Biosecurity
- The Role of Scientists and Innovators
- Informed Consent and Autonomy
- Corporate Responsibility and the Profit Motive
- Intergenerational Responsibility
- Deception, Manipulation, and Convenient Lies
- Religion, Belief, and Technology
Navigating the Future
- Why Sci-Fi Movies Matter
- Technological Convergence (Navigating the Future)
- Complexity, Chaos, and Unintended Consequences
- Risk Innovation
- Hype vs. Reality
- Science, Belief, and Ways of Knowing
- Resilience and Adaptation
- Everyone Has a Role to Play
- Don't Panic
- The Human Dimension
- The Role of Art and Culture
- Responsible Innovation as a Practice
The Movies
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- Never Let Me Go (2010)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Limitless (2011)
- Elysium (2013)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Ex Machina (2014)
- Transcendence (2014)
- The Man in the White Suit (1951)
- Inferno (2016)
- The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
- Contact (1997)
Post-2018 Developments
- Large Language Models, Frontier AI, and Agentic Systems
- Deepfakes, Synthetic Media, and the Crisis of Authenticity
- Autonomous Weapons and Lethal Autonomous Systems
- Autonomous Vehicles
- AI-Generated Art, Creative AI, and the IP Question
- mRNA Vaccines and Rapid Vaccine Platforms
- CRISPR Babies, Embryo Selection, and Heritable Gene Editing
- Aging, Anti-Aging, and Biopreservation
- Lab-Grown Meat and Cellular Agriculture
- Pandemic Preparedness and Biosurveillance
- Commercial Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Psychedelics and Therapeutic Neuroscience
- AI, Mental Health, and Behavioral Influence
- Active Geoengineering Proposals
- Carbon Removal and Climate Tech
- Social Credit, Algorithmic Scoring, and Automated Gatekeeping
- Facial Recognition and Biometric Surveillance
- Quantum Computing
- The AGI Debate: Consciousness, Existential Risk, and the Doomer Spectrum
- Synthetic Biology's Acceleration: AI-Designed Life and Biomanufacturing
- Brain Organoids and Neural Tissue of Uncertain Moral Status
- Biological Computing, Wetware, and Bio-Silicon Hybrids
- Xenotransplantation
- Consumer Genomics and the Privatization of the Genome
- Digital Resurrection, Grief Tech, and AI Companions of the Dead
- Algorithmic Labor and Algorithmic Management
- Attention, Cognitive Sovereignty, and the Erosion of Deep Focus
- Space Industrialization and Orbital Infrastructure
- Mars Settlement and the New Frontier Mythology
- Fusion, SMRs, and the Energy Stack Underneath Everything
Complex Emerging Questions
- Should an algorithm be allowed to decide whether I get a job, a loan, or parole?
- A few companies control the most powerful AI on Earth. Should I be worried?
- Can we regulate AI without killing the good parts?
- AI is changing how my kids learn and how I teach. Is that OK?
- Should we let parents choose their children's genes?
- At what point does upgrading a human become creating a different kind of human?
- If we can extend human life dramatically, should we? And who gets to?
- Should anyone have the right to alter the Earth's atmosphere on purpose?
- What do we owe people who haven't been born yet?
- How do I know what's real anymore?
- Is social media actually rewiring how we think and feel — especially kids?
- Is technological progress actually making most people's lives better?
- Why does it feel like nobody asked me about any of this?
- If an AI creates something beautiful, who does it belong to?
- These technologies don't stop at borders. How do we govern them?
- How do I think about all this without either panicking or checking out?
- What do we owe a lump of brain tissue in a dish?
- Should an algorithm be allowed to be my boss?
- Can I still think?
Supporting Files
- Discussion Questions
- Films Grabbing the Author's Attention
- Films Claude Thinks Are Missing
- Educators Guide
- Next Steps
- Book Trivia
