A related theme, for me, is transhumanism, so that's one, optimistic possibility that science fiction explores. I make no predictions about that since I'm not an expert in the relevant technical subjects (and I'm pessimistic, by nature), but I think the "unnaturalness" of our progress ends properly in a deification of our species since that would fully reveal the anomalousness of personhood (the set of traits that makes us people rather than just animals in the biological sense).

I write about transhumanism elsewhere. Maybe I'll send you something on that, to follow up on this question of progress.