Gibson had already imagined a prophetic cyberpunk future in his short stories “Burning Chrome” and “Johnny Neumonic”, but it was with Neuromancer (the first book in what would become “The Sprawl Trilogy”)
that he realized his visions of the potential repercussions and societal impact of advanced technological integration and the ethical and practical implications of not only XR but also AI technology. Despite a few lapses in foresight (people are still using pay-phones) the book is prescient of technologies unintended consequences, many of which we are struggling with today.