Reasonably Optimistic
Reasonably Optimistic
The Washington Post
The sci-fi writer who predicted the future
42 minutes Posted Dec 10, 2025 at 11:00 am.
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Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson predicted the metaverse, wearable tech and artificial intelligence long before those technologies arrived. What does he think of it all now? Host Megan McArdle talks to Stephenson about the future of AI, education and social media — and how his fiction became a window into the culture of Silicon Valley.