Really looking forward to discussing my book with Georgetown's Sam Potolicchio this evening at 5pm - you can register here if you want to join georgetown.zoom.us/meeting/regi... (although you will have to imagine the fireside alas!)
Sarah O'Connor
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com
FT columnist, writing about work, technology & economics.
One thing about publishing a book is that you realise how many AI-assisted scams and grifts there are, sending fulsome praise for your book before trying to wheedle into some deal. Especially enjoyed this one, which seems to think I've written the (wonderful sounding) Horses and Ponies of Ireland!
Oh man, this might be my favourite review yet! If you, too, would like to stare at a wall after reading my book, you can buy it here :) www.penguin.co.uk/books/462159...
We Are Not Machines
A tsunami of change, we are told, is sweeping the economy as robots and AI threaten to take over tasks done by humans. But while we worry that we’re robotizing our work, what if the real risk is that ...
penguin.co.uk
Stew Elliott@stewcelliott.bsky.social · last wk.Well I just finished this by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com & I didn't expect it to be quite so...stirring. My expectation was that it would be an enlightening read on a fairly dry topic & the reality was I closed it at the end, muttered "holy shit" and then stared at the wall for five solid minutes. 6/5
“What emerges is not a ledger of winners and losers but a set of skilfully drawn portraits of power, self-awareness, hard choices and collective contestation.” Frances Flanagan reviews @sarahoconnorft.ft.com's ‘We Are Not Machines.’
What are we building? • Frances Flanagan
A reporter documents the good, the bad and the ugly of AI in the workplace
inside.org.au
"...and this is a book about a very Marxian concept: alienation. In particular, the phrase that recurred in my head, the dystopian spectre that haunts the book, is Marx’s metaphor of the worker as “an appendage of the machine” On @sarahoconnorft.ft.com
Read/Watched/Listened/Ate: Alienation
29: July 2026
aveekbhattacharya.substack.com
Anyone seen any decent studies of impact of AVs so far on employment/wages of taxi/ride-share drivers in the cities in which they’ve been deployed in US/China?
"What I propose, therefore, is very simple: it is nothing more than to think what we are doing." (Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, 1958)
Very much enjoyed this conversation with the great Michael Goldfarb frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com/p/ai-apocaly...
AI Apocalypse Approaches: the Fight for the Future of Work.
Once upon a time the world of work was a full-time beat at newspapers.
frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com
What a weird metaphor to choose. I'm no electrician but isn't a circuit breaker the thing that causes all the lights to go out?
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2w agoAndy Burnham has promised to make his premiership a 'circuit-breaker for Britain' as he pledged to bring in a new economic and political model for the country. Follow the latest here: ft.trib.al/ObPUY1C
My review of my summer holiday reading, @sarahoconnorft.ft.com's "We are not Machines". Strong recommend. constantinides.net/2026/07/16/w...
We Are Not Machines: Craft, Care and Collective Agency
Sarah O’Connor’s We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work accompanied me on my summer holiday, but it has continued to unsettle how I think about work. It is an engaging, accessible bo…
constantinides.net
Listen to the pod, then buy the book - not only wise and humane but full of surprising details based on old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting
Sarah O'Connor@sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 4w agoI had a lot of fun recording this podcast about my book We Are Not Machines with @timharford.ft.com live at the Bristol economics festival - watching Tim with an audience in the palm of his hand was truly watching a master at work. timharford.com/2026/07/caut...
I had a lot of fun recording this podcast about my book We Are Not Machines with @timharford.ft.com live at the Bristol economics festival - watching Tim with an audience in the palm of his hand was truly watching a master at work. timharford.com/2026/07/caut...
Cautionary Tales Live – We Are Not Machines, with Sarah O’Connor
When the Luddites smashed factory frames in a bid to defend their craft and livelihoods, the machines came out on top. Today, AI and automation threaten to wipe out skilled jobs and flood us w…
timharford.com
Err, well this was really cool. I joined @sarahoconnorft.ft.com & @jburnmurdoch.ft.com on the @financialtimes.com's The AI Shift. Featuring my call for the economic research teams currently being built out within Anthropic, OpenAI & DeepMind to actually hire some development economists & much more!
My latest piece for the @heraldscotland.bsky.social is essentially a plea for everyone to read @sarahoconnorft.ft.com 's brilliant book www.heraldscotland.com/news/2625048...
It is time to face up to the full facts on AI
We would do well to reconsider the prospect of Artificial Intelligence replacing people while degrading work and care
heraldscotland.com
"Sarah O’Connor’s examination of technological change is an engrossing discourse on power, politics and humanity" 📚 @yuanfenyang.bsky.social reviews @sarahoconnorft.ft.com's 'We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work' bit.ly/4y346vw
'Reframing the debate from a binary discussion of winners and losers': Yuan Yang reviews 'We Are Not Machines'
Sarah O’Connor’s examination of technological change is an engrossing discourse on power, politics and humanity
bit.ly
The only reason our argument is deep into its second decade is that @alanbeattie.bsky.social refuses to admit he is wrong. Other than that, this is an excellent column! www.ft.com/content/0da0...
AI-guys, can we not use the word "meat" when we mean "human"? Like, can we just...not? Human is only one more character to type...
Just finished @sarahoconnorft.ft.com excellent We Are Not Machines. Great stories of how tech is changing work, how this depends on institutions & choices, and what this means for the choices (and there are choices) we now make. Strong recommend.
I'll be discussing my book We Are Not Machines with the brilliant Cosmina Dorobantu at the LSE on Tuesday 21st July at 6pm! Tickets are free if you would like to come along :) www.eventbrite.com/e/sarah-ocon...
Sarah O'Connor. We Are Not Machines
The Future of Work Isn't What You Think
eventbrite.com
Terrific piece from @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social about Andy Burnham, who she’s been covering for a decade. www.ft.com/content/9949...
The decade that made Andy Burnham
What 10 years covering the Manchester mayor’s many reinventions taught me about the man who wants to lead Britain
ft.com
Very strong recommendation for Sarah O'Connor's new book, We Are Not Machines - full of compelling original reporting about the real effects of automation on human beings www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
Inside the great deprofessionalisation
AI is taking the humanity out of our jobs
newstatesman.com
Wish I was the sort of person who thought “screw it, I’m going to drop £50 on a massive box of flakes”
My dad’s been a reader of the New Scientist for as long as I can remember, so I’m mega chuffed with this! Can’t wait for him to see it in the magazine. www.newscientist.com/article/mg27... @newscientist.com
New Scientist recommends an excellent look at the future of work
Sarah O'Connor's We Are Not Machines explores how we are contorting ourselves to fit AI into our working lives – and what to do about it, finds Tom Knowles
newscientist.com
Great piece by the Guardian's @guardianheather.bsky.social which discusses my book! Exciting. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
That feeling when you find a mug you mislaid and realise it has opened up a vortex into the underworld
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com: "In an ideal world, we would use these tools to extend our reach to achieve new things. But if we allow ourselves to be compared to machines, I fear we will come to expect too much of ourselves in some ways, and too little in others" www.ft.com/content/37ac...
The human brain is not a machine
This common comparison invites us to see ourselves as sub-optimal alternatives to AI agents
ft.com
No surprises here, but @sarahoconnorft.ft.com’s book is exceptionally good. www.penguin.co.uk/books/462159...
We Are Not Machines
A tsunami of change, we are told, is sweeping the economy as robots and AI threaten to take over tasks done by humans. But while we worry that we’re robotizing our work, what if the real risk is that ...
penguin.co.uk