Sarah O'Connor
@sarahoconnorft
FT columnist, writing about work, technology & economics.
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!)
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!
Unfortunately I think it can be both scary and also a bit shit at the same time.
"What I propose, therefore, is very simple: it is nothing more than to think what we are doing." (Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, 1958)
When something is so obviously a terrible idea, it is ok to just...say no thanks and ban it. We don't have to wait 15 years and then slowly ban if after a whole bunch of irreperable damage has been done to individuals and society.
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...
Wish I was the sort of person who thought “screw it, I’m going to drop £50 on a massive box of flakes”
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
I’m not even really into George Michael but I would read a shopping list if it was written by @sathnam.bsky.social so I know this is going to be great!
PFM! (You'll know what this badge is - I've been wearing it all week for luck!)
Why are we still arguing about the Industrial Revolution? I my column today I make the case for reading the novels of the age, rather than the arguments in tech circles about output per hour, real wage growth, etc. www.ft.com/content/f837...
Today, my book finally enters the big wide world! Exciting and also nerve-wracking! I'm really thrilled with this lovely review in The Spectator today, which describes it as "powerful and refreshing". If that sounds like YOUR cup of tea, please buy a copy! spectator.com/article/will...
My dad goes to the Cheltenham Science Festival most years because he loves it, so I'm very excited that his daughter (i.e. me!) is actually appearing there tonight! Talking about my new book We Are Not Machines which comes out on Thursday. @cheltfestivals
It is often said that a “wave” or “tsunami” of technological change is heading our way. These metaphors are powerful because they shape our sense of what is reasonable, and what is unreasonable. What does AI as a "wave" imply is a reasonable course of action? (1/...)
I can't promise it's a good book - that's for you to decide. But I can promise that I worked very hard on it, and in spite of that (or because of it?) it's pretty short :)
Are you tired of the non-stop utopian/dystopian AI predictions from CEOs? Do you want to hear what's ACTUALLY happening, from the people it's actually happening TO? If so, I have good news: I felt the same, so I have worn out my shoe-leather & written this book! www.penguin.co.uk/books/462159...
Here's a tip. If you've just finished writing a book while also holding down a job, and you really put your heart into it, and you're very tired, and your 6 year-old asks if she can draw your portrait? IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT SAY YES.
I don't really get this rationale. Are senior career diplomats incapable of picking up the phone? Could they and the PM not have conversations, if that's what both sides thought was useful?
Does negative chocolate pricing mean you can now get paid to eat chocolate #askingforafriend
Are YOU an established novelist who has won at least one presitigious prize? Would you like a new job reading AI-generated novels and plays?? No???
Also the question I ask myself at least once a day when I arrive in a room in my house & can't remember why www.ft.com/content/4819... (but more importantly: welcome to the FT @nigella.bsky.social!!)
This looks like Jevons paradox in action BUT that doesn't preclude a big shift in WHO is in demand. We're seeing job ads (and salaries) for senior engineers going up; not so much for juniors. Seniority-biased technological change?
In spite of all the talk of Claude Code and Codex meaning the end of humans writing code, software job adverts are actually going up, according to @jburnmurdoch.ft.com's crunching of millions of job ads for this week's The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/7325...
Striking chart on the gender skew among AI researchers. In academia, the number of top AI scientists who are women has been growing slowly. In the private sector? Not so much. (chart from this vg paper from Uni of Chicago bfi.uchicago.edu/working-pape...)
FT commenters are the best commenters (from this v good piece about the OpenClaw craze in China www.ft.com/content/e242...)