Jill Lepore: Silicon Valley’s Dangerous Misreading of Sci-Fi

The shift toward an artificial state represents a departure from centuries of democratic progress, moving toward a form of tyranny masked as efficiency. Lepore, a Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer, contends that while many technological innovations begin with benign intentions, they have evolved into a deliberate effort by private entities to bypass the nation-state. She points to a recurring pattern where tech leaders treat pulp science fiction not as cautionary tales, but as instructional manuals for their corporate ambitions.

This trend is most visible in the way companies adopt the trappings of government, from Facebook’s oversight board to AI firms drafting their own constitutions. Lepore argues that these leaders often lack a coherent political philosophy, relying instead on a 'cartoon version' of 20th-century futurism. By framing technological change as the only valid form of progress, they alienate citizens from the natural world and democratic participation. Ultimately, Lepore suggests that this artificial construct is inherently unstable, as it requires the destruction of the very environment and human agency necessary for its own long-term survival.