Algorithmic Divination: From Prediction to Preemption of the Future

abstract:Predictive algorithms today share more than just semantics with the divinatory practices of the past. This article will map the parallels, contending that the similarities between the two practices are true "propositions" that radically question the way we apprehend the world, the way we draw our knowledge from it, and the way we then act within and upon it. Mindful of the limitations of such a comparative method, it will nevertheless attempt it by deploying a twofold approach. On the one hand, the article questions the epistemological nature of predictive analytics and examines their truth claims with regard to how they represent the future. On the other hand, it focuses on the ontological dimension of predictive analytics and investigates how they shape the world by bringing about the presence of the future in the here and now.