Prophecy

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

Produkt bewerten

Carissa Véliz

Verlag:

Swift Press

Unsere-Artikel-Nr.: YQ7946K

EAN: 9781800757240

Erhältlich:

Nicht auf Lager

Zustellung: Fr, 11.09.2026

Versand: Kostenlos

CHF 38.50

Beschreibung

Today's computer scientists play the same role as the oracles of the ancient world and the astrologers of the Middle Ages. Modern predictions not only advise on war, crop output, and marriages, but algorithms and statisticians also now determine whether we can get a loan, a job, an apartment, or an organ transplant. And when we cede ground to these predictions, we lose control of our own lives. In this powerful, refreshing new look at the many ways prediction shapes our everyday lives, University of Oxford professor Carissa Véliz explains how putting too much stock in others' predictions makes us vulnerable to charlatans, con artists, dubious technology, and self-deception. Examining a wide range of subjects both personal and societal, including medicine, climate, technology, society, and others, Véliz uncovers a number of insights: predictions about humans tend to be self-fulfilling; more data doesn't guarantee better outcomes; AI is more likely to increase risk than decrease it; and a free and robust society requires not more prediction, but better preparation. Véliz argues in this incisive and bracingly original book that the main promise of prediction is not knowledge of the future, but rather power over others. Prophecy is an invitation to defy those orders and live life on our own terms.

Spezifikationen

Sprache

Englisch

Autor

Carissa Véliz

Erscheinungsjahr

2026

Format

Buch (Hardcover)

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