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  "description": "What if technology isn't going to destroy the future, but might save it?",
  "path": "/project-hail-mary-a-sign-of-the-times/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-11T19:56:13.000Z",
  "site": "https://spyglass.org",
  "tags": [
    "require",
    "an",
    "asterisk",
    "isn’t rocket science",
    "twice",
    "delicate",
    "increasingly",
    "job losses",
    "what’s coming",
    "is",
    "overtakes",
    "everything",
    "a part of this",
    "well over a decade",
    "Andy Weir's",
    "“science the shit”",
    "chance",
    "I choose to believe",
    "the insanely preferred comparison for AI",
    "The Inner Ring",
    "a podcast version",
    "Sign Up",
    "Upgrade",
    "I just knew",
    "war and AI you say",
    "of which I've long been a fan",
    "I do believe",
    "a real messenger problem",
    "trying to deliver",
    "to the masses",
    "a fun backstory"
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  "textContent": "🍿\n\n****A few mild spoilers about**** _****Project Hail Mary****_****below. Proceed with caution if you haven't yet seen the movie (you should).**** ****Revisit after!****\n\nIn an era when hit movies at the box office often require an asterisk, _Project Hail Mary_ is clearly a massive, legitimate hit. At the highest level, the appeal is simple: it’s _good_ and it’s the type of movie that practically demands to be seen in theaters — preferably on an IMAX screen. Such a combination isn’t rocket science, except that here, it is, quite literally.1 But having now seen the movie twice, I also wonder if there isn't something else at play. It’s more delicate, but perhaps just as potent.\n\nWe’re currently living in a world where technology increasingly is being seen as the boogeyman. For pretty much everything. As such, the future is looked at with almost a sense of dread. Part of it is understandable — already a large number of job losses are being blamed on AI. And every headline you read hammers the point home: this is coming for everyone. Buckle up, because what’s coming is going to suck.\n\nIt’s depressing as fuck.\n\nBut what if instead, technology and the future plays out similarly to how it has played out in the past? That is, there’s a period of disruption as the world digests change and then… the world is _better_ for it? Perhaps not universally, of course. But for the most part. We used to call this progress, but now we call it a problem.\n\nIt’s not just AI. Part of this is undoubtedly related to the fact that the Big Tech companies are now by far the largest businesses in the world, increasingly with their tentacles in every facet of life. Here's where I'll point out that the studio behind _Project Hail Mary_ is... Amazon MGM. And now AI threatens to cement that status and create a world where technology overtakes pretty much everything about humanity.\n\nAgain, that’s the basic sense you get from everything you read — and also _see_. While I get that it’s very “tech bro” to complain about critical coverage, I’m also a part of this – and I've been writing about this general idea for well over a decade. While there has always been the lure of the dystopian future as a narrative, increasingly, it does seem like the _only_ acceptable framing of the future. A happy 2050? Come on, no one will buy that! And perhaps no one will buy a ticket to that.\n\nBut _Project Hail Mary_ counters this and hits the right mix, I think. The world of the future — which honestly doesn’t even seem like much of the future, but apparently is set in the 2030s or 2040s in the book — is in trouble. But it’s not technology that causes it — it’s technology that might _fix_ it.\n\nI won’t give too much away, but essentially, it echoes the themes of Andy Weir's previous book adapted to a movie, _The Martian_. Humanity is able to “science the shit” out of the problem. And it’s technology that enables the science (and vice versa). It’s a story as old as time in a way, humanity prevails. But now with the help of an alien. Which is only possible because of a ton of technology.\n\nNo one in this world is sitting around complaining about tech — and the alien is even gifted a “portable Earth thinking machine” at one point to much excitement! — they’re leveraging it. Figuring out how to make it work for them to solve the problem at hand.\n\nThis strikes me as far more in line with the way the _actual_ arc of technology has played out over time. Yes, there’s initial fear, probably from the wheel on down, then we adapt and leverage the new capabilities to push the world forward. Why do we think AI or any other new technology will be different?\n\nPerhaps because we _always_ think it will be different.\n\nI will obviously acknowledge that there is a chance this time _is_ different. That the AI shift is so profound that it plays out in ways that are both unforeseen and potentially problematic. But again, that’s always the case with new technology. I choose to believe that we’ll figure out the best ways to leverage it. Because technology itself is not inherently good nor evil, it’s how you use it. And unlike with nuclear weapons — the insanely preferred comparison for AI — there are real and obvious upsides to AI (beyond ending a world war).2\n\nAnyway, my point is simply that I think part of the reason why _Project Hail Mary_ is resonating with audiences is because it’s actually **hopeful** about the future of humanity using technology.3 And I feel like the reaction to the Artemis mission this past week speaks directly to that as well. People want to be excited again about a future in which we leverage the technology we’ve created to do truly amazing feats.4\n\nPerhaps the best scene in the movie is entirely unexpected and decidedly Earthbound. On an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean as they prepare for the ‘Hail Mary’ mission, Sandra Hüller’s Eva Stratt, the team lead, breaks free from her icy exterior for a moment to do a bit of karaoke. Her song of choice? Harry Styles’ decade-old “Sign of the Times”.5 It’s completely unexpected but also fitting in so many ways. And it feels like a perfect encapsulation of _Project Hail Mary_ itself being released right now: “Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times.”\n\n🎙️\n\n****New:**** Members of The Inner Ring can now subscribe to a podcast version of this and other __Spyglass__ columns. Sign Up****|**** Upgrade\n\n* * *\n\n1 For the record, I just knew it would be good. It had all the right vibes... ↩\n\n2 Oh, war and AI you say?.. ↩\n\n3 Another bit of current pop culture in this vein: _For All Mankind_ , the Apple TV show (of which I've long been a fan) also about the future (well, technically the alternate past) of space travel. I'm not sure what to read into the fact that Big Tech is behind both of these more optimistic tech shows... ↩\n\n4 At the same time, I do believe there is a real messenger problem with those trying to deliver this technology to the masses... ↩\n\n5 The completely last-minute use of the song itself is a fun backstory ↩.",
  "title": "'Project Hail Mary' as a Sign of the Times",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-12T17:20:24.593Z"
}