Historian Jill Lepore has raised a critical alarm regarding the fundamental misconceptions in how modern Silicon Valley interprets science fiction as a guiding framework for envisioning the future. Lepore points out that the tech industry's tendency to consume sci-fi merely as a prophecy or roadmap for technological innovation justifies a historical context-ignoring "technological determinism," which ultimately fosters discourse that undermines democratic values.
According to Lepore's analysis, 20th-century sci-fi literature originally held strong elements of social critique and the exploration of humanity. However, within the contemporary tech industry, these literary works have been reduced to evidence supporting the fatalistic view that "technology dictates the future." She argues that this reality leads to the formation of an ideology that uncritically praises technological development, creating a severe disconnect between civil society and technology development.
This discourse emphasizes that a historical perspective is indispensable for ethics in technology development and dialogue with democracy. Technologists must be aware not only of the technologies they are developing, but also of the historical backgrounds of the narratives those technologies rely on and the impacts they have on society. There is a pressing need to reevaluate sci-fi not merely as a tool for technological development, but as literature that reflects society like a mirror.