Illustration of a person in a long-sleeved shirt with neck-length hair standing in front of a small desk and looking out of a floor-to-ceiling window over the ocean.

No Regrets

A short story by Carter Scholz about geoengineering, billionaire hubris, and “altruistic” narcissism.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy and society.

Future Tense is the citizen’s guide to the future.

The partnership provides insightful, timely, and unexpected analysis at the intersection of technology and society through written commentary and live events in Washington, D.C. and beyond.

Events

Close-up photo of a semiconductor, held by a hand in a blue glove.

[ONLINE] – North America’s Semiconductor Moment

Supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 highlighted North America’s dependence on semiconductors made in Asia. In response, the U.S. has committed $52 billion through the CHIPS and Science Act to bring home advanced semiconductor manufacturing and improve supply chain resilience. Mexico’s geographic proximity, strong manufacturing sector, and favorable terms of trade uniquely position it to join the U.S.-led global semiconductor supply chain reshuffling. But can Mexico seize the moment? Join Future Tense and ASU’s Convergence Lab to discuss the opportunities and challenges ahead.

March 15, 2023
2:00 pm  – 3:00 pm
Online
The book “Data Driven,” with a light orange cover and an illustration of a truck watched over by ominous, lidless eyes from above.

[ONLINE] – “Data Driven” with Karen Levy

Join author Karen Levy, a 2019 New America Fellow, for a conversation about her new book Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance and the role of data collection in broader systems of social control.

December 13, 2022
10:00 am  – 11:00 am
Online

Future Tense Fiction


A series of original science fiction stories crafted by leading authors, exploring how science and technology will change our lives in the future. Each story is paired with a response essay by an expert in a related field.

Illustration of a person in a long-sleeved shirt with neck-length hair standing in front of a small desk and looking out of a floor-to-ceiling window over the ocean.

By Carter Scholz

A story about geoengineering, billionaire hubris, and “altruistic” narcissism.

A courtroom drawing–style illustration showing a person in a blue suit interrogating a mounted glowing screen on the witness stand, with the judge looking on.

By Jeff Hewitt

A story about a copyright lawsuit against a prolific A.I. author.

Illustration of several people seated around a round table, looking up startled at a spotlight shining down on the center of the tabletop.

By Tara Isabella Burton

A story about a dinner party, an accident, AI, and the slipperiness of ethics.

Illustration of a person with long dark hair, wearing reflective virtual-reality goggles, popping a blue gummy candy into their mouth. The background is comprised of blue-green pastel rectangles irising into the distance.

By K Chess

A story about video games, personalized media, and the futility of escape.

An idyllic English-style country manor in the distance. In the foreground, hedges form two concentric circles, with a foreboding black monolith at the center.

By Jonathan Parks-Ramage

A story about brain-computer interfaces, privacy, and education.

An illustration of two people looking at one another in profile, one balding in a green shirt, one bald in a blue shirt. Between them is a vertical DNA strand.

By Meg Charlton

A murder mystery about grief, epigenetics, and surfing.

Best of Future Tense


Future Tense publishes commentary on Slate by researchers and scholars at Arizona State University, alongside many other writers and thinkers from the fields of journalism, public policy, science and technology, and more.