Sci-Fi Trains Military for Tech's Unpredictable Future

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has unveiled Creative Futures, a new collection of science fiction stories designed to spark fresh thinking about the future of defence and security over the next 100 years.

Edited by Dr Allen Stroud of Coventry University, Creative Futures brings together leading science fiction authors who worked alongside defence experts to imagine future scenarios stretching as far as 2122.

These stories explore how emerging technologies, societal shifts, and global challenges might shape the world beyond this century.

Themes explored include:

• wars fought by autonomous machines
• quantum technology that can predict the future
• AI making life and death decisions

One of Dstl's key aims is to help UK defence and security prepare for the future by avoiding uncertainty and strategic surprise. By combining scientific rigour and deep technological understanding with creative storytelling, Creative Futures offers a unique lens to consider alternative futures - both desirable and undesirable.

Professor Tim Dafforn, MOD Chief Scientific Adviser, said:

Innovation isn't just about inventing new technology - it's about understanding how it will be used, and by whom.

Fiction gives us the freedom to explore those scenarios in ways traditional analysis can't, helping defence prepare for futures that are complex, contested, and unpredictable. If we only plan for what seems likely today, we will be blindsided tomorrow.

Sarah Herbert, Dstl Futures Programme Manager, said:

Preparing for the future means thinking beyond the next upgrade or system. Science fiction challenges us to consider the human, societal, and geopolitical dimensions of technology.

These stories aim to engage, evoke, and provoke - pushing us to imagine new ways of working and rethink what the future could be. By carrying that creative mindset into the present, we can apply their lessons to real‑world challenges and unlock better ways of working today.

Science Fiction author Dr Allen Stroud, of Coventry University and editor of Creative Futures, added:

Working with Dstl was an incredible opportunity to merge creativity with real-world expertise. Science fiction isn't just entertainment - it's a strategic tool. These stories help us explore the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies beyond today's horizon that we might otherwise miss.

The book also includes a timeline into the 22nd century using a variety of academic, commercial and international government-backed studies which includes:

• the trials and implementation of universal basic incomes across the world
• the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections and diseases
• the first commercial quantum networks and proliferation of AI
• the world's population peaking and then declining with the global birth rate falling below 2.0
• autonomous and robotic policing
• the impacts of climate change and swings in economic fortunes amongst nations

Through the power of storytelling, Creative Futures invites defence and security professionals to think beyond the here and now - and engage with possibilities that could redefine our world. As technology accelerates and global dynamics shift, foresight ensures that the UK remains agile, informed, and prepared for whatever lies ahead.