Scientists can help governments plan for the future. But don’t forget sci-fi writers: we can do it too | Emma Newman

Our job is to imagine scenarios from the impact of the climate crisis to the rise of AI – and decision-makers need our help

Emma Newman’s Planetfall science-fiction series was shortlisted for the best series Hugo award

I am an imaginative person, but I never once imagined I would find myself in a room with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) talking about what the world could be like many decades into the future. But that is what I have been doing recently, as one of several science-fiction authors on the Creative Futures project, a partnership between Coventry University and the MoD’s defence science and technology laboratory.

As it seems the world is hellbent on making some of the dystopian futures we have imagined become reality, I raised my concerns about how our work would be used. But we weren’t there to suggest ideas for weapons of mass destruction. We were there to talk about things such as the impact of the climate crisis and potential future technologies, and how both could impact society. What kind of crises could arise and what sort of disaster relief may be required. The sci-fi writers of the past did a pretty decent job of predicting our present – from the moon landings (Jules Verne, 1865) to the use of geostationary satellites for global communications (Arthur C Clarke, 1945) – so I can see why the MoD wanted our contributions.

Emma Newman is an author, podcaster and audiobook narrator. Her Planetfall science-fiction series was shortlisted for the best series Hugo award

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