Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We use AI predictions every day: from the weather app to Instagram algorithms to business tools. But these predictions don’t just describe the future, says Carissa Véliz. They're actively creating it—and the people making them may have more power over your life than you realize.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Carissa Véliz, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford and author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI. An award-winning expert on privacy, technology, and ethics, Carissa reveals how predictions shape everything from hiring and healthcare to business strategy, democracy, and our personal choices. Her sharp, accessible keynotes help audiences question the futures they’re being sold—and reclaim their power to defy the odds and build something better.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why predictions are never as neutral as they appear
- How AI can turn predictions into self-fulfilling prophecies
- Why forecasting people is more dangerous than forecasting the weather
- How leaders can prepare for uncertainty instead of trying to predict everything
- Why expert judgment still matters in a data-driven world
- How curiosity, creativity, and serendipity can help us build a better future
In conversation with The Lavin Agency’s Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Carissa answers these questions and more:
- Can AI accurately predict human behavior?
- How is AI changing decision-making?
- What do AI predictions get wrong?
- What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
- How can businesses prepare for an uncertain future?
- Should we trust algorithms to make decisions?
- How can leaders make better decisions under uncertainty?
- What is the relationship between data privacy and AI?
Learn more about Carissa or book her as a keynote speaker: thelavinagency.com/speakers/carissa-veliz/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=carissa+veliz+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Carissa Véliz
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0:00 Cold Open
1:00 Intro to Carissa Véliz
2:09 What Prediction Really Means
3:03 Prediction and Power
3:49 Why Prediction Feels Urgent Now
6:08 Who Gets to Predict the Future?
7:30 Tech Executives as Modern Oracles
9:31 The Imagined Future of Technology
10:26 When Predictions Shape People
13:50 Surveillance, Prediction, and Control
17:02 Better Business Models for Tech
19:45 Business Forecasting vs Good Judgment
22:03 Prediction, Probability, and Judgment
24:48 Intuition, Expertise, and Preparation
27:13 Uncertainty and Risk
29:03 Learning to Embrace Uncertainty
30:10 Prediction and the Good Life
34:30 Follow Your Curiosity
35:10 Why Seinfeld Matters
36:01 Algorithms and the Future of Culture
37:03 Questions to Ask a Predictor
38:01 Three Lessons on Prediction
40:33 Bravery, Creativity, and the Future
41:27 Outro
We use AI predictions every day: from the weather app to Instagram algorithms to business tools. But these predictions don’t just describe the future, says Carissa Véliz. They're actively creating it—and the people making them may have more power over your life than you realize.
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Carissa Véliz, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford and author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI. An award-winning expert on privacy, technology, and ethics, Carissa reveals how predictions shape everything from hiring and healthcare to business strategy, democracy, and our personal choices. Her sharp, accessible keynotes help audiences question the futures they’re being sold—and reclaim their power to defy the odds and build something better.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why predictions are never as neutral as they appear
- How AI can turn predictions into self-fulfilling prophecies
- Why forecasting people is more dangerous than forecasting the weather
- How leaders can prepare for uncertainty instead of trying to predict everything
- Why expert judgment still matters in a data-driven world
- How curiosity, creativity, and serendipity can help us build a better future
In conversation with The Lavin Agency’s Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Carissa answers these questions and more:
- Can AI accurately predict human behavior?
- How is AI changing decision-making?
- What do AI predictions get wrong?
- What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
- How can businesses prepare for an uncertain future?
- Should we trust algorithms to make decisions?
- How can leaders make better decisions under uncertainty?
- What is the relationship between data privacy and AI?
Learn more about Carissa or book her as a keynote speaker: thelavinagency.com/speakers/carissa-veliz/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=carissa+veliz+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Carissa Véliz
--------
0:00 Cold Open
1:00 Intro to Carissa Véliz
2:09 What Prediction Really Means
3:03 Prediction and Power
3:49 Why Prediction Feels Urgent Now
6:08 Who Gets to Predict the Future?
7:30 Tech Executives as Modern Oracles
9:31 The Imagined Future of Technology
10:26 When Predictions Shape People
13:50 Surveillance, Prediction, and Control
17:02 Better Business Models for Tech
19:45 Business Forecasting vs Good Judgment
22:03 Prediction, Probability, and Judgment
24:48 Intuition, Expertise, and Preparation
27:13 Uncertainty and Risk
29:03 Learning to Embrace Uncertainty
30:10 Prediction and the Good Life
34:30 Follow Your Curiosity
35:10 Why Seinfeld Matters
36:01 Algorithms and the Future of Culture
37:03 Questions to Ask a Predictor
38:01 Three Lessons on Prediction
40:33 Bravery, Creativity, and the Future
41:27 Outro
