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The risks of relying on AI to predict human behavior

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode How predictions took over our lives

AI is built on prediction, but what happens when those predictions start shaping the world they’re foretelling? Philosopher Carissa Véliz shares the risks of using algorithms to forecast human lives.

About Carissa Véliz

Carissa Véliz is an associate professor of philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI.

Web Resources

Related TED Talk: 3 possible futures for AI — which will we choose?

Related TED Talk: How to stop AI from killing your critical thinking

Related NPR Links

TED Radio Hour: Using ancient philosophy to cope with your modern problems

TED Radio Hour: Could AI help us, not replace us?

Copyright 2026 NPR

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Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.

Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters.

Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.

She was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and has received numerous awards for her work, including The Gracie for Best Radio Host in 2014 and 2018. Her book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self" (2017, St. Martin's Press) and her TED Talk are guides to surviving information overload and the "Attention Economy."

Zomorodi received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in English and fine arts. She is half-Persian and half-Swiss but was born in New York City, where she lives with her family.

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