Dramatic times are ahead: In the coming decades, technologies such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering could either bring about the end of humanity or usher in a golden age that we can hardly imagine. Or are we perhaps already living in the Matrix, as Swedish philosopher and bestselling author Nick Bostrom claims in his famous simulation argument? In the six essays gathered here, some of which have already achieved classic status, Bostrom takes a sober and detailed look at our future. Some of it reads (still) like science fiction, but it could hardly be more relevant and serious.