Science fiction does more than predict future inventions. Stories are a testbed for exploring the unexpected ways people could incorporate technology into their cultures. Science journalist and novelist [Annalee Newitz](http://techsploitation.com) discusses how scientists, innovators, and the rest of us benefit from the crucible of imaginative fictions.

Annalee is the author of the bestselling novel _[Autonomous](https://www.amazon.com/Autonomous-Novel-Annalee-Newitz/dp/0765392070)_. Her nonfiction book _[Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction](https://www.amazon.com/Scatter-Adapt-Remember-Survive-Extinction/dp/0307949427/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8)_ was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in science. She is the founding editor of io9.com, and formerly the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo. Currently she is editor-at-large for Ars Technica. Her work has appeared in New York Times, The New Yorker, Atlantic, Wired, Washington Post, Technology Review, 2600, and many other publications. Formerly she was a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a lecturer in American Studies at UC Berkeley. She received a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship from MIT, and has a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley.