I've been noticing similar concepts in modern sci-fi/tech thrillers lately. Devs and the most recent season of Westworld come to mind. It got me thinking abou

I've been noticing similar concepts in modern sci-fi/tech thrillers lately. Devs and the most recent season of Westworld come to mind. It got me thinking about how certain "threats" or big changes can affect our fiction and be reflected in our scary stories. In Asimov's time, psychohistory was pitched as some amazing tool that could be used to improve (or at least prevent the total destruction of) human civilization. Now it's all about modern/fictionalized computing power being used to model humanity's actions, but not necessarily for positive ends. Even if some of the characters think they're working for the best, it's pitched as a something unnatural to revolt against. I guess the obvious read would be that Asimov didn't have any real world examples to draw upon so it was easier to extrapolate the day's advances in math and computing into something more powerful and empowering. Today we look at the potential abuses of powerful algorithms and behavioral modeling and imagine something similar but much more powerful and dangerous.