A technicality, perhaps, but the books that the article is about don't actually depict our future. Their civilization did not evolve on Earth and isn't biologic

A technicality, perhaps, but the books that the article is about don't actually depict our future. Their civilization did not evolve on Earth and isn't biologically human, and the books are (with the exception of one short story) not set anywhere near Earth or even in our time. The Culture books don't follow the predictive tradition of science fiction. Banks' books are more appropriately called space opera, though Banks has his own spin on things that sets him somewhat apart. What Banks does is dream up a completely new, utopian, post-scarcity civilization, and then explores what kinds of conflicts and moral problems can exist in such an environment where anyone can be anyone, have anything, and go anywhere.