The Oracle: From Sacred Voices to Predictive Systems

By Yassine TRIKI

Introduction: Why Oracles Still Matter

The figure of the oracle might seem like a relic of ancient mythology, a curious symbol from the past. But what if the oracle never truly disappeared? What if it merely changed form—adapting itself to each era’s tools of knowledge, power, and uncertainty? In this blog post, I invite you on a journey through time, tracing how oracles evolved from ecstatic priestesses to artificial intelligences, and what their evolution says about the world we live in today.

What Is an Oracle?

An oracle is a person, object, or system believed to deliver messages from a divine or hidden source. Oracles guide, warn, or answer deep questions. What sets them apart is not just what they reveal, but how they reveal it: often in riddles, signs, or ambiguous language. They require interpretation, and that interpretation shapes power.

Ancient Echoes: Greece and Carthage

In Ancient Greece, the most famous oracle was at Delphi, where the priestess Pythia, in a trance, spoke on behalf of Apollo. Her messages were mystical, poetic, and often puzzling. People didn’t expect clear answers—they expected signs that would illuminate a path.

Meanwhile, in Carthage, the divine spoke differently. Here, the Kohanim, a priestly caste with Semitic roots, interpreted divine will through rituals, sacrifices, and omens. Unlike the theatrical trances of the Greek oracles, Carthaginian practice emphasized ritualized signs. The word kōhēn, meaning « priest » in Hebrew, was shared across Semitic cultures, revealing a common idea of sacred mediation.

Note: Carthage, in present-day Tunisia, should not be confused with Cartagena in Spain or Colombia.

Both cultures illustrate that oracles were not neutral messengers. Their authority came from how societies interpreted them and who controlled that process.

Oracles and the Limits of Truth

Oracles didn’t always speak the truth. In fact, their answers were often enigmatic or misleading. A famous example: King Croesus of Lydia asked the Delphic oracle if he should attack Persia. The answer? « If you cross the river, a great empire will fall. » Encouraged, he went to war. His own empire fell.

This isn’t just a cautionary tale. It’s a philosophical insight: oracles reflect our desires, fears, and interpretations more than they offer certainty. They expose the fragility of truth when filtered through symbols and power.

Greek philosophers like Socrates accepted oracles not as fixed truths, but as provocations to think more deeply. This dialectical stance—to take mystery seriously without surrendering to it—is key to understanding the oracle’s modern form.

The Oracle Reborn: From Prophets to Algorithms

Over time, the oracle became metaphor. Medieval theologians spoke of divine prophecy; Renaissance thinkers saw oracles as echoes of a lost universal wisdom. But the modern age brought a shift: oracles became rationalized.

Today, the word « oracle » appears in technology: data oracles, AI oracles, blockchain oracles. These are systems that take in information, process it, and deliver predictions. We consult them to forecast weather, markets, health, even human behavior.

Yet they remain uncertain and opaque. Like the Pythia, modern AI systems speak a kind of language we don’t fully understand. They draw from massive datasets instead of divine ether, but the effect is similar: we trust them, interpret them, and often act on them without full understanding.

Are We Still Misreading the Oracle?

Whether mystical or mathematical, oracles are not always right. Ancient oracles misled kings. Carthaginian priests could not escape symbolic traps. Today, algorithmic systems carry bias, are trained on imperfect data, and can be manipulated or misunderstood.

The illusion of certainty is the real danger. Just as Croesus believed the gods were on his side, we often assume algorithms are objective. But oracles have always mirrored the power of those who interpret them.

Conclusion: Who Owns the Oracle?

In her powerful book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Shoshana Zuboff warns:

“The game is no longer about sending you a mail order catalog. It’s about predicting if you’re pregnant, and then shaping the outcome.”

Today, the new oracles are not sacred women in temples but data platforms, machine learning models, and the corporations that own them. They do not just predict the future—they try to shape it.

So the question remains:

Who owns the oracle now? And who gets to interpret its voice?

Understanding oracles today means asking not just what they reveal, but who they serve.

Author’s Note

This article is a written reflection and expanded interpretation of the presentation I gave on Tuesday, April 17th at Centech Montréal, during the 555 event. I had the pleasure of being invited by my friend Simon Wong, and although my talk was a bit rushed, I truly appreciated the quality of the discussion and the thoughtful engagement from the audience.

A special thanks to the organizers for creating such a dynamic space for exchange.
As promised, here is the link to the video  I mentioned during the session.

I hope this piece continues the conversation we started — about the place of AI in our societies, and how we might guide it with more critical thinking and collective intelligence.