Gibson's Prophecy

Neuromancer did not just predict the future, it shaped the vocabulary we use to discuss it. The word "cyberspace," which Gibson had coined two years earlier in a short story, was carried into every major language by this novel. Jacking into virtual worlds foreshadowed VR headsets and the metaverse. Corporate-controlled digital infrastructure described the actual structure of the internet before it existed. The grimy, unequal future proved far more accurate than mainstream futurism's utopian forecasts, and the AI storyline anticipated debates about machine consciousness and alignment that would stay quiet for decades.