Oxford's Carissa Véliz: AI predictions are commands disguised as forecasts
CarissaVeliz · x · 2026-10-03
In episode E142 of The Maybe podcast, Dr. Carissa Véliz — associate professor at Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI and author of Prophecy — argues that a prediction is a command disguised as a description.
- When a tech executive says AI will do your job next year, it works only if enough people obey it: you believe it, buy the product, reorganize your company, and the prophecy self-fulfills.
- She asks who gets to make predictions that stick, and explains how powerful actors use algorithms to fulfill forecasts that serve their interests.
- Her proposed alternative: rely on preparation over prediction, and stop treating tech-industry prophecies as news — start hearing them as orders.
The episode also touches on AI, elections, and who gets to shape the future, with further reading including Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism.
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