- In Blindsight [1] the main character is a "synthesist", part of his job is to figure out what much more intelligent transhuman or artificial intelligence is up to and translate it to normal people.
- In Children of Time [2] the character is a "classicist", he studies ancient technology, which is far more advanced than the technology humans have in his era thanks to a technological collapse.
Ted Chiang's story came first, but these are still over a decade (or two) old.
- In Blindsight [1] the main character is a "synthesist", part of his job is to figure out what much more intelligent transhuman or artificial intelligence is up to and translate it to normal people.
- In Children of Time [2] the character is a "classicist", he studies ancient technology, which is far more advanced than the technology humans have in his era thanks to a technological collapse.
Ted Chiang's story came first, but these are still over a decade (or two) old.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Time_(novel)