Project Liberty Substack

A growing number of organizations, from Silicon Valley tech outfits to a host of other big corporations, have begun linking AI use to performance evaluations. For many, survival in the workplace now involves investing substantial time and resources in learning how to collaborate with AI.

Yet, many may soon discover that these efforts do not necessarily make work smoother. Instead, they start to feel like obedience to a set of “prophecies.”

Consider claims such as: “AI will become your closest work partner,” “Everyone will have an AI assistant,” or “Companies that fail to adopt AI will be eliminated.” On face value, these statements seem to describe trends. In practice, they often discipline behavior: You better surrender your attention and judgment now, or you will be left behind.

My Oxford colleague Carissa Véliz, in her new book “Prophecy,” reminds us that the power of prophecy lies not in accurately predicting the future, but in shaping it.

For example, suppose a business owner believes that “AI will replace 80 percent of the workforce.” They may redesign performance systems, restructure teams and ultimately dismiss most of the employees. This does not prove that the prophecy was accurate. It proves that the prophecy is self-fulfilling.