technoutopian

Technoutopian is an adjective describing a worldview or a person who believes that technology will bring about a near-ideal, or utopian, society. It emphasizes rapid advancement and scalable solutions to social problems, including automation, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and digital governance. The term is used in academic and media contexts to characterize optimism about tech-led transformation, sometimes overlapping with techno-optimism or futurist discourse.

The concept traces to long-standing debates about technology's social role and contrasts with technocracy or techno-dystopian narratives. Technoutopianism envisions abundant resources, improved well-being, and enhanced human capacities through technological systems, often with faith in deployable, scalable innovations rather than social reform on other axes. It can describe individuals—founders, engineers, futurists—or broader cultural tendencies that valorize invention, experimentation, and large-scale engineering as primary engines of progress.

Critics argue that technoutopian views can understate risks, inequality, governance challenges, ethical concerns, or unintended consequences of autonomous systems, surveillance, or environmental impacts. Debates around universal basic income, AI governance, climate engineering, and platform economies are common contexts for technoutopian and anti-technoutopian tensions. The term may carry neutral or pejorative connotations depending on usage.