Carissa Véliz

A culture of divination has grown all around us - from machine learning, to prediction markets, and forecasting of all kinds, not to mention psychics and astrology. But have you ever wondered what, exactly, is in a prediction? TED talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS4w... #PROPHECY #authors

When "smart" TVs are stupid... “It was enormously satisfying when I threw a rock through the screen.” Lol. "Frustration and controversies have sparked a DIY interest in opening up and neutering the black rectangles in our living rooms." www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Hype depends on prediction, and it's antidote is better understanding the pitfalls and limits of prediction. That's why I wrote Prophecy. "Hype is eating the future, and leaving us the bones." www.techpolicy.press/tech-hype-is...

Really enjoyed participating in this episode about the Oracle of Delphi for CBC. Can you imagine what it must've been like to make a pilgrimage there and ask a question to the Pythia? And do you know what was the Oracle's last prediction? Check it out. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

The more you are enjoying an in-person talk by a public speaker, the more tempting it is to take out your phone and try to capture the moment, but here are a few reasons not to. carissaveliz.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...

La preocupación ayuda a prepararse para el futuro, mientras el catastrofismo es paralizante. Las mentes más lúcidas no se tragan que las IA vayan a exterminarnos. La filósofa @carissaveliz.bsky.social causa impacto en el foro CREO. cincodias.elpais.com/opinion/2026...

Great article on the great act of creativity that accounting is. The problem runs deeper than this article suggests. If you want to understand it better, read Chapters 2 and 6 of "Prophecy" (on the history of statistics and the problems of data). www.economist.com/business/202...

This is the best podcast I've listened to about prediction markets. A tiny fraction of users make almost all the profit? Why? www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTUq... To understand how predictions work in the real world, get Prophecy: US: a.co/d/05wgYdCf UK: amzn.eu/d/037r1bLS #books #authors

NostradamusGPT – superb read on the psychology of prophecy and how to break free from the prison of predictive technologies www.themarginalian.org/2026/10/13/c...

No joke. I think this is the most important video I have ever seen about mobile games. This guy breaks down how this game psychologically profiles you, and makes the game harder or easier in order to show you ads

Honoured and grateful for this shout out from @mariapopova.bsky.social of whom I am a big fan! “In an epoch when it is difficult to say anything original about AI, [Prophecy] offers a revelatory look at the prison we have chosen to live inside and a key out.” www.themarginalian.org/2026/10/13/c...

Grab @carissaveliz.bsky.social's book 'Prophecy' here: bookshop.org/p/books/prop...

We talked yesterday with @carissaveliz.bsky.social about the claim that AI will destroy us all, and discussed her most recent book: Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI. soundcloud.com/user-8304426...

This speaks to me a lot. My world is a beautiful mess of English, German, and Norwegian. I like it that way. And multilingual is the world of most people. It adds richness, depth, and nuance. I don't want any more suggestion for auto-translate anything. Please.

My latest on The Antidote: On the culture baked in language, the pleasures of Spanglish, and infuriating automatic AI translations. Isn’t it incredible that we can preserve some sayings word for word through centuries? What does that tell us? carissaveliz.substack.com/p/stop-messi...

When we allow private interests to increase surveillance to levels previously only experienced in dictatorships, what we are really asking is: How much of this can liberal democracies take?, notes @carissaveliz.bsky.social. t.co/ZcSbQsZ7kI

Every technology, and every business practice, depends on our collective acquiescence. Culture is mightier than any technology. The surveillance backlash is real, and it matters. Maybe these people will find more ethical jobs building privacy products... www.reuters.com/business/ai-...

Watch the full interview with @carissaveliz.bsky.social on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/T5ermMuVeoI

NEW: The big new Aaron Sorkin film The Social Reckoning opens tomorrow with a plot centred on Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen....but we need to talk about *another* Facebook whistleblower, Sarah Wynn-Williams. And why Zuck is gunning for her.. 1/ www.youtube.com/watch?is=NP3...

AI is prediction, not fact. Predictions concern the future; facts belong to the present and the past. - @carissaveliz.bsky.social www.themaybe.org/podcast/bewa...

If you're in business and you're not clear on which events can be predicted, which can't, and which shouldn't be, then you're very likely to make a big and avoidable mistake. Don't. Read Prophecy instead. #BBYA26 US: a.co/d/03T1JddG UK: amzn.eu/d/0frOJZUJ

My latest on The Antidote: "If Cervantes didn’t approve of chivalry novels for their clichés, for their responsibility in confusing people about what’s true, for setting the wrong ideals to strive for, then he would’ve hated LLMs and the age of AI." carissaveliz.substack.com/p/quixotic-t...

Lesenswerter Text! "We are giving AI systems much more information about us than we are getting information from them", sagt @carissaveliz.bsky.social Konkret geht es um Muse, den KI-Agenten von Meta. Dieses Tool legt auch Dossiers über Menschen an, mit denen ein User oder eine Userin Kontakt hat

Sometimes we make the simple complicated. Meta's current business model depends on #surveillance; therefore, the incentive is for it to design products to further that surveillance, not to benefit you (much less your friends and family!). www.wired.com/story/muse-c...

Utilizing LLMs and AI systems in science is pro-authoritarian and anti-science. A bonus Saturday post to cause a little extra reflection about what we’re doing here. Thanks to @carissaveliz.bsky.social www.the-geyser.com/scientistic-...

@alixdunn.com sat down with @carissaveliz.bsky.social to talk about her new book, ‘Prophecy.’ She walks us down the well-worn path of prediction as a political tool: power brokers using forecasts to bend the future towards their will by convincing the rest of us that it’s destiny, not marketing.

AI execs want you to believe that their predictions are inevitable. But really, it’s just marketing. I spoke with @carissaveliz.bsky.social about her new book ‘Prophecy.’ We explore the history of predictions as a tool to secure power. Catch the conversation here: www.themaybe.org/podcast/bewa...

Ugh, my social media is full of nonsense today. I wish we were more careful about who we give publicity to... Anyway, if you want an actually critical and rigorous philosophical and historical explainer of EA, read Prophecy. US: a.co/d/0gbR692N UK: amzn.eu/d/0eJwAoTi

Very much looking forward to this event. Join us!

How you should take back control of your data, by PROPHECY author Carissa Véliz: Thanks to everyone [at least 1001 now] who has subscribed to The Antidote! It's been a good few weeks. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing. If you haven't subscribed, check it out here: carissaveliz.substack.com

One of the highest rated TED talks by a person I highly respect and urge others to listen to:

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to The Antidote! It's been a good few weeks. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing. If you haven't subscribed, check it out here: carissaveliz.substack.com/about

The most important cost is not the £320,000 and the 100 hours of police time, it's the loss in civil liberties. There is no democracy without privacy, and we erode them both at our peril. More in Privacy Is Power: amzn.eu/d/0gCH29i5 www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

If you're in business and you're not clear on which events can be predicted, which can't, and which shouldn't be, then you're very likely to make a big and avoidable mistake. Don't. Read Prophecy instead. #BBYA26 US: a.co/d/03T1JddG UK: amzn.eu/d/0frOJZUJ

My latest on The Antidote: The better the book, the less you can get from the podcast. What's in a book that you can't get in the podcast? A book is a piece of design; a podcast is not. Are there cases in which the podcast is enough? Yes. With bad books. carissaveliz.substack.com/p/the-better...

At least we get plenty of irony these days. #AIEthics Very revealing quote: “I felt no joy in the work or that I was contributing to society in any way.” www.404media.co/people-train...

“Leer es un proceso de atención. (…) Como dice Zweig en su relato, la concentración es el eterno secreto de cualquier perfección. (…) La atención es un ejercicio de rebeldía.” elpais.com/eps/2026-09-...

Otra entrevista interesante sobre el tema, y en castellano

"The most powerful invention of tech companies is not technology but narratives. They are the great storytellers. It's our job to question them and not fall for their tales." Carissa Véliz, Prophecy #ai @carissaveliz.bsky.social

Antes de salir corriendo por la "amenaza de la IA" hay que hacer más preguntas y exigir una mejor tecnología. El poder sigue siendo nuestro, humano. Si van a escuchar/ver algo sobre el tema, que sea este video pódcast.

¿Qué tan peligrosa es la IA? ¿Deberías estar preocupado? Gracias a Denise Maerker (@denisemaerker.bsky.social) por la entrevista. Muy buenas preguntas. Una mente rápida y una buena lectora. Lo disfruté. youtu.be/lycjBlsrk-0?...

Which is your favourite bookshop in the world? Mine: @blackwelloxford.bsky.social www.economist.com/culture/2026...

“The only way to know for sure where someone will be tomorrow is to make them be there”. Thanks for the quote, @timharford.ft.com. Can LLMs see the future? I wouldn’t count on it — if they could, they’d be creating it.

#Prophecy, spotted by a kind reader at Cornell University shop! :) #books

El diseño de los algoritmos de redes sociales está hecho para enganchar y producir adicción. “Qué tristeza que tengamos a tantas mentes brillantes que lo que hacen es tratar de secuestrar el sistema de dopamina de la gente”, reflexiona @carissaveliz.bsky.social. 🎧: elhilo.audio/309

„The Future Doesn’t Get Predicted — It Gets Produced.“ Great article by @carissaveliz.bsky.social carissaveliz.substack.com/p/the-future...