Goldberg: He studied cognitive science then wrote a startling play about AI authoritarianism

When I saw “Data,” a zippy off-Broadway play about the ethical crises of employees at a Palantir-like artificial intelligence company, last month, I was struck by its prescience. It’s about a brilliant, conflicted computer programmer pulled into a secret project — stop reading here if you want to avoid spoilers — to win a Department of Homeland Security contract for a database tracking immigrants. A brisk theatrical thriller, the play perfectly captures the slick, grandiose language with which...