Or her essay was actually about what it's title and content literally said and the "thought experiment" line was a pitiful backpedal.

I mean, everything you write is a "thought experiment", that doesn't mean you are immune to the responses to the content.

For example, if you wrote something really racist and then got backlash, could you just claim it was a thought experiment to invoke discussions about race? Not successfully.

Does the semantics of "thought experiment" vs "prediction" really matter though? The point is it's a dystopian view being discussed at THE platform of world leaders... It doesn't look good at all.