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

★ 2026 Financial Times and Standard Chartered Business Book of the Year — Longlist ★ 2026 Financial Times and Standard Chartered Business Book of the Year — Shortlist

Carissa Véliz examines the authority people grant to predictions, from ancient oracles to the algorithms shaping everyday decisions. She argues that forecasts can influence behavior, conceal responsibility, and allow powerful institutions to determine outcomes they claim merely to anticipate. Drawing on philosophy, history, and contemporary technology, the book explores decisions about employment, lending, healthcare, and public life. Véliz challenges the idea that more data necessarily produces better judgment, asking how individuals and democracies can preserve agency, prepare for uncertainty, and resist having their futures defined by others.

Publisher: Doubleday
Publication date: 2026-04-21
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
ISBN: 9780385550970

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