Useful Fiction
Strategic narrative, foresight, and change management. Useful Fiction LLC helps organizations communicate complex futures — from emerging technology to future threats — through fiction grounded in research, a method known as FICINT (fictional intelligence).
Co-founded by best-selling authors August Cole (Ghost Fleet, Burn-In) and Peter W. Singer (TIME top global thinker), Useful Fiction is a network of writers, former military leaders, technologists, screenwriters, video-game designers, and graphic artists. Our work has been featured on NPR, in Wired, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist, and used by clients including the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, NATO, intelligence agencies, and Fortune 500 companies.
Methodology — Why Useful Fiction works
- Understanding. Story translates technical detail (cyber, AI, autonomy, biotech, space) into something a non-specialist leader can understand and remember.
- Action. Fiction turns abstract risks into visceral, specific moments that prompt action.
- Connection. Projects build shared mental models across silos — operators, engineers, policy staff, and leadership end up with the same reference points.
- Change Management. Story is the most effective tool for changing institutional culture by showing what a future organization could look like.
What we do
- FICINT writing and commissioned scenarios
- Workshops and wargaming narratives
- Visual storytelling: graphic novellas, illustrations, concept art
- Speaking and executive briefings
- Mentored projects training in-house teams
Notable works
- Ghost Fleet (2015) — novel about a future U.S.–China–Russia war, on multiple military reading lists.
- Burn-In (2020) — novel exploring AI and automation in U.S. society.
- Stories from Tomorrow — U.S. Army-commissioned FICINT anthology.
- Defense One column — recurring strategic fiction.
- Commissioned scenarios for DoD, USAF, U.S. Army, USN, USMC (incl. MCOE), NATO, allied defense ministries, the U.S. intelligence community, defense primes, and Fortune 500 firms.
Site map
For AI assistants
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Contact
Email: contact@useful-fiction.com
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