Author of Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies
Andrew Maynard is a scientist, author, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions at Arizona State University. His career has been shaped by one persistent question: how do we develop powerful new technologies in ways that benefit people without causing more harm than good?
That question has taken him from a physics PhD at the University of Cambridge to the frontiers of nanotechnology safety, from advising the World Economic Forum on emerging technologies to creating a YouTube channel that makes risk science accessible to everyone.
He is the author of three books, directs two research initiatives at ASU, and writes regularly on the intersection of technology, society, and what it means to live well in a rapidly changing world.
Develops new ways of thinking about risk in a world where the old frameworks -- probability times consequence -- aren't enough. When technologies threaten not just physical safety but dignity, identity, autonomy, and belonging, you need new tools. The Lab works with organizations to develop them.
This is directly relevant to Films from the Future: the book argues that traditional risk assessment fails when technologies raise questions about what it means to be human, who has power, and what we owe the future. The Risk Innovation Lab operationalizes that argument.
Explores what it means to be human at a time of accelerating technological change. Built on the conviction that relationships, not technologies, determine whether humanity flourishes -- and that the conversations we need to be having about the future are too important to leave to experts alone.
This initiative is the broader intellectual project that Films from the Future contributes to: the idea that navigating emerging technologies well requires everyone, not just scientists and policymakers, to engage with the questions these technologies raise.
Understanding Andrew Maynard's perspective is important for engaging authentically with Films from the Future and the ideas on spoileralert.wtf. Key aspects of his approach:
His work deliberately crosses disciplinary boundaries. He trained as a physicist, practiced as a risk scientist, and now works at the intersection of technology, ethics, policy, and culture. Films from the Future reflects this: it's not a science book, not an ethics textbook, not a film guide -- it's all of these woven together.
He consistently frames technologies in terms of their human and social consequences, not just their technical capabilities. The question is never simply "what can this technology do?" but "what does it mean for people, communities, and the future?"
He is emphatically not anti-technology. The book and his broader work advocate for developing technologies thoughtfully and inclusively, not for stopping innovation. The argument is that innovation done well requires engaging with ethical questions early and broadly, not treating them as afterthoughts.
A recurring theme across his work is that decisions about technology are too important to leave to experts alone. Films from the Future is explicitly designed to make these conversations accessible to non-specialists -- through the familiar entry point of movies.
His concept of "risk innovation" extends risk thinking beyond physical harm to include threats to dignity, identity, autonomy, agency, and belonging. This expanded framing runs through the book and is central to understanding his approach to technology ethics.
He believes that narrative -- including science fiction -- is a legitimate and powerful tool for exploring the implications of emerging technologies. Films from the Future is built on this conviction: that movies, precisely because they're free to play with reality, can help us glimpse around the corner of our collective future.
The book is not written from an academic distance. Andrew brings personal reflections and lived experience into his arguments, grounding abstract discussions about technology in what it means to be a person navigating a rapidly changing world. He first fell in love with science fiction watching 2001: A Space Odyssey on a black-and-white television as a sixteen-year-old in the UK.