The sci-fi writer who predicted the future

from Reasonably Optimistic · host The Washington Post

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.Timecodes0:00 Welcome to Reasonably Optimistic0:33 Who is Neal Stephenson?1:19 Living in the future3:25 Neal's origin story 5:18 The disruptive effects of new technology 8:18 The premise of The Diamond Age  14:23 AI’s confident wrongness17:43 What AI is good at18:56 Is AI good for kids?20:03 Fixing education in an AI world 23:14 Will AI make nerds less valuable?26:44 AI is eliminating entry level jobs29:45 How tech founders got political34:37 Is Neal Stephenson’s work political?36:50 Technology is easier to predict than culture40:11 What is Neal Stephenson reasonably optimistic about?Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Dec 10, 2025

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