Charlie Brooker can’t help but go there. The Black Mirror creator is wrapping up a story about testing the reflexes of self-driving taxis by stepping in front of one — “Disappointingly, it didn’t try to kill me” — when I bring up a more recent rideshare innovation. Protector, a car service with armed guards for executives and others rattled by the December shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had launched in Los Angeles that week. “Jesus, Ok, that’s dystopian,” he says. “But surely it’s a perfect service for anyone who, you know, wants to assassinate somebody? Just sign up to work as the guard and then you’re in a car with a gun and somebody important.”

Brooker knows dystopia. For seven seasons, the latest dropping April 10 on Netflix, Black Mirror has reflected some of the darkest places technology could take humanity. But the writer behind almost every...