One of the fascinating lessons of Jensen Huang's resignation is about power. Just a few weeks ago he was described as the most powerful engineer in the world. No more. The paradox of power is that the more of it you have, the more vulnerable you are. 1/

The latest on The Antidote, on the Aesthetics of AI, the topic of my upcoming TED Talk. Why are most things AI so ugly? What is the architectural legacy of tech titans? Data centers and bunkers. Where is our attempt at beauty? carissaveliz.substack.com/p/the-aesthe...

Very honoured to be on the list. Thanks, @shannonvallor.bsky.social. "Unlike doomsaying, calls to action are grounded not in visions of how a broken world ends, but in visions of how broken worlds are repaired, remade, and carried with love into the future." Prophecy "offers a vital lesson". #books

Shannon Vallor@shannonvallor.bsky.social · 5d ago

This was incredibly fun for me to write. Thanks for the inspiration to: @adambecker.bsky.social @davekarpf.bsky.social @ruha9.bsky.social @nkjemisin.bsky.social @carissaveliz.bsky.social @drdihal.bsky.social @nealstephenson.bsky.social @stephenjcave.bsky.social, Becky Chambers and Ursula LG always

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...

‘It was so satisfying when I threw a rock through the screen’: the people sick of being spied on by their smart TV

Is your television listening to every conversation? Filling your home with highly invasive ads? Some viewers have had enough of tech violating their privacy

theguardian.com

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...

Tech Hype is Cannibalizing the Future

Every day, we are told that we live in the future—but hype is eating the future and leaving us the bones," writes Sun-ha Hong.

techpolicy.press

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...

Basta de catastrofismo: la incertidumbre nos hace libres

La filósofa Carissa Véliz causa impacto con su visión desmitificadora de la IA. El foro CREO celebra la resistencia de la economía: las empresas se han hecho al caos global y no paran de invertir y ex...

cincodias.elpais.com

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...

The AI boom is threatened by an epidemic of unreliable numbers

Investors can no longer put their trust in data

economist.com

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

We analysed 3 years worth of Polymarket trades. Here's what we found.

YouTube video by InGenius

youtube.com

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...

NostradamusGPT: The Psychology of Prophecy and How to Break Free from the Prison of Predictive Technologies

This is our paradox: We know that uncertainty is the substrate of the universe, is the crucible of creativity, is the path to truth, and yet we spend our lives searching for certainty. The word aus…

themarginalian.org

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...

NostradamusGPT: The Psychology of Prophecy and How to Break Free from the Prison of Predictive Technologies

This is our paradox: We know that uncertainty is the substrate of the universe, is the crucible of creativity, is the path to truth, and yet we spend our lives searching for certainty. The word aus…

themarginalian.org

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

Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI

“Lively. . . . Rousing. . . . Prophecy—roving, intelligent, irreducibly idiosyncratic—can expand our sense of possibility, starting now.” —The New York Times Book Review Tech empires are the prophets ...

bookshop.org

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...

The Author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI

Background Briefing goes far beyond the headlines and deep under the radar to bring forward truths unheard elsewhere in American media. Background Briefing features international and national news, ex

soundcloud.com

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.

Carissa Véliz@carissaveliz.bsky.social · last mo.

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...

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-...

EXCLUSIVE: AI surveillance startup Flock Safety to cut several hundred jobs amid backlash, sources say

Flock Safety plans to let go of about 18% of its employees, people with direct knowledge of the plans said on Thursday, as the maker of AI-powered ​surveillance cameras and license-plate readers faces...

reuters.com

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

AI Prophets Are Lying to You

YouTube video by The Maybe

youtu.be

The Maybe@themaybe.org · last mo.

@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.

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...

THE SOCIAL RECKONING – Official Teaser Trailer (HD)

YouTube video by Sony Pictures Entertainment

youtube.com

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...

Beware the AI Prophets: Hype, Doom, and Prediction as Tools of Control w/ Carissa Véliz

Carissa explains why a prediction is a command disguised as a description, and how powerful people use algorithms to fulfill their own forecasts.

themaybe.org

Ecstatic to share that #Prophecy has been shortlisted for the FT #BBYA26! I'm so honoured. Writing Prophecy was an amazing adventure, but it was hard and risky, and it being well received and appreciated fills me with joy. www.ft.com/content/d0b2...

FT and Standard Chartered Business Book of the Year Award 2026 — the shortlist

Contenders include titles on weight-loss drugs, AI weaponry and forecasting

ft.com

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

Muse Creates Detailed Profiles of All Your Friends and Family

Millions have downloaded Meta’s AI agent Muse. But getting it to do your bidding comes with privacy costs.

wired.com

Now that I finished it, I highly recommend @carissaveliz.bsky.social’s book Prophecy. Very important critical study of the nature and role of predictions and prophecies not as a means of understanding the future but as the social exercise of the will to power — clearly relevant to the AI “debate”.

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...

Muse Creates Detailed Profiles of All Your Friends and Family

Millions have downloaded Meta’s AI agent Muse. But getting it to do your bidding comes with privacy costs.

wired.com

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-...

Scientistic Authoritarianism

The rollout of AI and LLMs in science is mostly about centralized power

the-geyser.com

@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.

Beware the AI Prophets: Hype, Doom, and Prediction as Tools of Control w/ Carissa Véliz

Carissa explains why a prediction is a command disguised as a description, and how powerful people use algorithms to fulfill their own forecasts.

themaybe.org