The Future Cyberpunk Imagined Is Here: How Much Did It Get Right?

For decades, the sci-fi subgenre known as cyberpunk imagined a future of chrome-plated mercenaries, cyberspace cowboys, and hackers battling globe-spanning corporations. Four decades later, much of that future has arrived—just not in the way its creators expected. Brain-computer interfaces like Neuralink, AI-powered smart glasses, and increasingly sophisticated robotic prosthetics have begun bringing science fiction's chrome-plated future into the real world. At the same time, a handful of techn...