Post-2018 Developments

Domain hub for spoileralert.wtf — based on Films from the Future by Andrew Maynard

About This Domain

Films from the Future was published in 2018. The technologies and ethical frameworks it explores have not stood still. This domain covers technologies and developments that have emerged or accelerated significantly since the book was written — areas where the book's thinking tools remain directly relevant even though the specific developments came after it went to press.

Each page introduces the technology or development, explains where things stand, and connects back to the book's frameworks, ethical themes, and films. These are not updates to the book — they are extensions of it, demonstrating that the questions the book asks are more urgent now than when they were first written.

This domain works in close partnership with the Complex Emerging Questions domain, which uses many of these developments as raw material for the contested dilemmas they raise. It also connects extensively to the original Emerging Science and Technology pages, the ethical themes in Responsible and Ethical Innovation, and the thinking frameworks in Navigating the Future.

Topic Pages

Cluster: AI, Agents, and Generative Systems

1. Large Language Models, Frontier AI, and Agentic Systems

• Page: p18_llms_frontier_ai.md
• Scope: The trajectory from GPT-2 to frontier models, the shift to agentic AI and systems of agents, use in education, and the copyright/IP upheaval. The defining technology development since the book was published.
• Cross-links: Artificial Intelligence; Superintelligence; Permissionless Innovation; Hype vs. Reality

2. Deepfakes, Synthetic Media, and the Crisis of Authenticity

• Page: p18_deepfakes_synthetic_media.md
• Scope: AI-generated video, audio, and images indistinguishable from real. Detection efforts and their limits. Legitimate creative uses. The social consequences when evidence becomes unreliable.
• Cross-links: Deception, Manipulation, and Convenient Lies; Science, Belief, and Ways of Knowing; The Role of Art and Culture

3. Autonomous Weapons and Lethal Autonomous Systems

• Page: p18_autonomous_weapons.md
• Scope: Military AI, drone warfare, autonomous targeting, the "meaningful human control" debate. The gap between deployment speed and governance.
• Cross-links: Could We? Should We?; Informed Consent and Autonomy; Risk and Innovation

4. Autonomous Vehicles

• Page: p18_autonomous_vehicles.md
• Scope: Self-driving cars from Waymo to Tesla to Zoox. Where the technology actually stands vs. the promises made. Liability, labor, and how much risk society should accept from machines.
• Cross-links: Artificial Intelligence; Automation and Robotics; Hype vs. Reality; Permissionless Innovation

5. AI-Generated Art, Creative AI, and the IP Question

• Page: p18_ai_generated_art.md
• Scope: AI tools that produce art, music, writing. Labor displacement, the authorship question, and whether existing IP frameworks can survive when machines create.
• Cross-links: The Role of Art and Culture; Power, Privilege, and Access; Corporate Responsibility

Cluster: Biology, Health, and Human Futures

6. mRNA Vaccines and Rapid Vaccine Platforms

• Page: p18_mrna_vaccines.md
• Scope: COVID-19 vaccines as proof of concept, the mRNA platform's broader potential, the speed-of-development vs. speed-of-trust tension, and the equity question.
• Cross-links: Genetic Engineering; Dual-Use Research and Biosecurity; Too Valuable to Fail

7. CRISPR Babies, Embryo Selection, and Heritable Gene Editing

• Page: p18_crispr_babies_embryo_selection.md
• Scope: He Jiankui's 2018 experiment, preimplantation genetic testing with whole-genome sequencing, polygenic embryo scoring, and the moving line between therapy and design.
• Cross-links: Genetic Engineering; Cloning; Could We? Should We?; Human Dignity

8. Aging, Anti-Aging, and Biopreservation

• Page: p18_aging_anti_aging.md
• Scope: The longevity field's explosion — senolytics, reprogramming factors, epigenetic clocks. Organ biopreservation technologies. The equity question of who gets to live longer.
• Cross-links: Bioprinting and Organ Regeneration; Power, Privilege, and Access; Hype vs. Reality

9. Lab-Grown Meat and Cellular Agriculture

• Page: p18_lab_grown_meat.md
• Scope: Cultured meat, precision fermentation, state-level bans, the cultural identity of food, lobbying dynamics. A case where social resistance rivals the technical challenge.
• Cross-links: Synthetic Biology; Technological Convergence; Corporate Responsibility

10. Pandemic Preparedness and Biosurveillance

• Page: p18_pandemic_preparedness.md
• Scope: COVID-19 as a case study for the book's biosecurity and complex systems frameworks. The lab-leak debate, gain-of-function governance, and new biosurveillance infrastructure.
• Cross-links: Gain-of-Function Research; Dual-Use Research and Biosecurity; Complexity and Unintended Consequences

Cluster: Brain, Mind, and Behavior

11. Commercial Brain-Computer Interfaces

• Page: p18_commercial_bcis.md
• Scope: Three distinct approaches — invasive (Neuralink), endovascular (Synchron), non-invasive (wearables). Moving from research labs to consumer products.
• Cross-links: Brain-Computer Interfaces; Human Augmentation; Informed Consent; Human Dignity

12. Psychedelics and Therapeutic Neuroscience

• Page: p18_psychedelics_therapeutic.md
• Scope: Psilocybin, MDMA-assisted therapy, the decriminalization wave, venture capital in psychedelics, and the indigenous knowledge question.
• Cross-links: Smart Drugs and Cognitive Enhancement; Power, Privilege, and Access; Informed Consent

13. AI, Mental Health, and Behavioral Influence

• Page: p18_ai_mental_health.md
• Scope: AI companion apps, therapeutic chatbots, algorithmic content curation shaping mood and behavior. The adolescent mental health crisis. When the algorithm knows you are vulnerable.
• Cross-links: Predictive Algorithms; Deception, Manipulation, and Convenient Lies; The Human Dimension

Cluster: Environment and Earth Systems

14. Active Geoengineering Proposals

• Page: p18_active_geoengineering.md
• Scope: Stratospheric aerosol injection moving from theory to small-scale experiments, marine cloud brightening, the governance void. What was conceptual in the book is now contested reality.
• Cross-links: Geoengineering; Could We? Should We?; Intergenerational Responsibility

15. Carbon Removal and Climate Tech

• Page: p18_carbon_removal.md
• Scope: Direct air capture, nature-based solutions, carbon markets, the scale problem. The tension between "we need everything" and the risk of distraction from emission cuts.
• Cross-links: Climate Science; Resilience and Adaptation; Hype vs. Reality

Cluster: Data, Surveillance, and Governance

16. Social Credit, Algorithmic Scoring, and Automated Gatekeeping

• Page: p18_algorithmic_scoring.md
• Scope: China's social credit system, algorithmic scoring in hiring, lending, insurance, and content moderation. The book's Minority Report frameworks made real.
• Cross-links: Predictive Algorithms; Surveillance, Privacy, and Control; Informed Consent

17. Facial Recognition and Biometric Surveillance

• Page: p18_facial_recognition.md
• Scope: Deployment by police, airports, retailers. Accuracy disparities. The ban-vs-regulate debate. The normalization of biometric identification and the shrinking space for anonymity.
• Cross-links: Ubiquitous Surveillance; Surveillance, Privacy, and Control; Everyone Has a Role

Cluster: Convergence and Frontier

18. Quantum Computing

• Page: p18_quantum_computing.md
• Scope: What quantum computers actually are vs. the hype. Where they stand. What they would actually change — cryptography, drug discovery, materials science. A clean hype vs. reality case study.
• Cross-links: Hype vs. Reality; Technological Convergence; Surveillance, Privacy, and Control

19. The AGI Debate: Consciousness, Existential Risk, and the Doomer Spectrum

• Page: p18_agi_debate.md
• Scope: Whether AGI is imminent, distant, or impossible. The x-risk community, the doomer/accelerationist spectrum, claims about AI consciousness. The book's frameworks applied: count the assumptions, don't panic, don't dismiss.
• Cross-links: Superintelligence; Hype vs. Reality; Could We? Should We?; Don't Panic

20. Synthetic Biology's Acceleration: AI-Designed Life and Biomanufacturing

• Page: p18_synbio_acceleration.md
• Scope: The convergence of AI and synthetic biology. AlphaFold and protein structure prediction. Generative models designing DNA sequences. Cloud labs and democratized bioengineering. Biosecurity implications when AI makes it easier to design organisms.
• Cross-links: Synthetic Biology; Gain-of-Function Research; Dual-Use Research and Biosecurity; Technological Convergence

How This Domain Connects

This is one of six interconnected domains on spoileralert.wtf:

• Post-2018 Developments (this file) — 20 technologies and developments that emerged or accelerated after the book was published
• Complex Emerging Questions — 16 contested questions at the intersection of technology, society, and the future
• Emerging Science and Technology — the 21 technologies explored in the book
• Responsible and Ethical Innovation — 13 cross-cutting ethical themes that recur across multiple chapters and technologies
• Navigating the Future — 12 frameworks for thinking about technology and society
• The Movies — 12 film pages connecting each movie to the technologies and themes it illuminates

The full book text is available in chapter files (chapters 1–14 plus acknowledgments). For guidance on tone and approach when engaging with this material, see usage_guidance.md.