Science fiction movies, books, and television shows help us imagine future worlds teeming with new technologies and new uses for the technology we see around us today. In fact, the gadgets that were imagined in old movies and television shows are now, in reality, smaller, sleeker, and much more sophisticated than the original fictitious inventions ever were.

Here are just a few things that scientists have taken from the world of science fiction and turned into actual technological wonders: instant messaging (from Pretty in Pink), 3-D printers (Star Trek), hover-bikes (Star Wars), and air-touch technology (Minority Report). Today, you can watch a new release of a science fiction movie and most likely see a "prototype idea," or a model idea, of a device that may well be available in the near future.

But it's not just authors who dream big. Tech companies around the world are working at lightning speed to outdo each other with the latest, most creative, most amazing smart technology. If we continue on our current path, technology will play an enormous role in our lives in the future. Here are some examples of where we're going and what these companies hope smart technology will bring about in the near future: roll-up television screens, in-home monitoring of the elderly, robots with personalities, brain wave passwords, and soldiers in Iron Man suits. And that's just a few of the things smart technology can do.

In addition to imagining new technology, science fiction authors have also raised many a concern about "machines" over the years; in fact, these writers tend to be even more concerned about the ethics of science in the future--after all, their stories about robots taking over the world don't usually end positively for humankind. Science fiction writers help us imagine all sorts of problems caused by advances in technology--from half human/half robot hybrids that wreak havoc to entirely human villains who use technology to enact their evil plans, hoping to rule over or enslave others.

Both the benefits and drawbacks to technology should have us asking some important questions: What should technology do for us? What should it not do? How can technological devices be used to make life better? And how can they be used in the hands of evil people or corrupt governments to make life miserable? You'll consider questions like these in this lesson as you draft an essay that argues a point related to technology.