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You might recall, early in the first season of Dune: Prophecy, that Popverse reported on the Thinking Machines of Frank Herbert's universe. These machines are pretty far advanced from anything in our modern times, we told you, but they do parallel a very real threat facing workers today - that is, the ability of AI to take human jobs. But it's not just Popverse that makes that parallel, it's some of the Dune: Prophecy cast members as well. At the very least, it's Olivia Williams, AKA Tula Harkonnen, who railed against AI in a recent press conference.

First, some context - the press conference Williams was speaking at was the one held by HBO at the tail end of Dune: Prophecy's first season, just ahead of the finale's release (you may remember it's the one where we learned the news of a Dune: Prophecy season 2). At about the 20-minute mark of that conference, a question came in regarding the role of AI and what the actors thought of it.

"Don't get me started," quipped Williams immediately. Thankfully, though, she did indeed get started.

"As a member of the Actors Union," Williams began, "In order to do any special effects or CGI, we would have to give our data to large, unknown companies who could sell it and reuse it with our voices and our likenesses. They could appear throughout the universe and in perpetuity without our knowledge or our being paid for it."

And Williams is right. One of the stand-out issues during the SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023 was just this AI problem. But that doesn't mean she had no more to say about it.

"I think we're going to look back on this time," Williams continued, "And quite possibly the 10 years coming up to now, as 'cowboy country.' When there were no rules and people stuck their flags into territories and called it their own without any law. There's a lawlessness that's astounding. But it goes beyond laws; there are now people more powerful than governments owning platforms that are more useful than territory. They are thought territory. We are living that very bad dream."

They say that, when told well, futuristic science fiction stories are really about the issues of the present. They serve as warnings to us, images of the long way down sent to people teetering on the edge. I'd add that good scifi also requires creators who understand those issues on both a personal and global level, and who aren't afraid to tell us when dreams of the future become nightmares. Hopefully, if we listen to them, we'll wake up.

Dune: Prophecy season 1 is available now on Max.

Face your fear, and permit it to pass over you and through you with our key guides to all things Dune:

• Dune: Part Two's ending explained,
• All the Dune sequels and TV show prequels that are planned
• Dune watch order
• Which Frank Herbert story Denis Villeneuve believes would make a great Dune: Part Three
• Movies to watch after you've finished Dune
• Sisterhood of Dune ending explained: Understanding the book that Dune: Prophecy was based on

After reading it all, turn to the inner eye to see its path.