Why science fiction set in the near future is so terrifying

This article accompanies episode 10 of The Anthill podcast on the future. From Humans to Westworld, from Her to Ex Machina, and from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D to Black Mirror – near future science fiction in recent years has given audiences some seriously unsettling and prophetic visions of the future. According to these alternative or imagined futures, we are facing a post-human reality where humans are either rebelled against or replaced by their own creations. These stories propose a future where our lives will be transformed by science and technology, redefining what it is to be human. The near future science fiction sub-genre imagines a future only a short time away from the period in which it is produced.