Lessons from ancient oracles

AI models now advise on everything from war, crop output, and marriages. Algorithms determine whether we can get a loan, a job, an apartment, or an organ transplant.

Carissa Véliz, Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford, argues that today’s computer scientists play the same role as the oracles of the ancient world and the astrologers of the Middle Ages. And when we cede ground to these predictions, we lose control of our own lives.

In this episode, Véliz speaks to technology philosopher Tom Chatfield about how systems of prediction have long shaped human decisions - and how their influence is expanding in the age of data and AI.

Together they examine why more data does not always lead to better outcomes, and how predictive systems can become self-fulfilling, and argue for shifting focus from prediction to preparation — and for reclaiming human agency in a world increasingly guided by forecasts.

Carissa Véliz is Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI.

Tom Chatfield is a technology philosopher, author and commentator on digital culture, technology and society.

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