Sarah O'Connor
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com
FT columnist, writing about work, technology & economics.
Are "Made by Humans" labels going to be the new Fairtrade? On why transparency about how AI is used in creative endeavours is trickier than it sounds, but better than just giving up www.ft.com/content/bab5...
December 16, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Are "Made by Humans" labels going to be the new Fairtrade? On why transparency about how AI is used in creative endeavours is trickier than it sounds, but better than just giving up www.ft.com/content/bab5...
Sure, we're the weak and decaying ones...
December 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Sure, we're the weak and decaying ones...
Seen in this light, the government's new immigration policy and rhetoric feels somewhat...lacking in humility
December 9, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Seen in this light, the government's new immigration policy and rhetoric feels somewhat...lacking in humility
While they wait in this backlog & try to grab a slot for the exam, those who live here have to work in jobs for which they're hugely overqualified, and their dentistry skills atrophy.
December 9, 2025 at 11:51 AM
While they wait in this backlog & try to grab a slot for the exam, those who live here have to work in jobs for which they're hugely overqualified, and their dentistry skills atrophy.
Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...
December 9, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...
In 2016, godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton said: "People should stop training radiologists now." In this week's The AI Shift newsletter, we ask: why are there still so many radiologists?? www.ft.com/content/f2e0...
December 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM
In 2016, godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton said: "People should stop training radiologists now." In this week's The AI Shift newsletter, we ask: why are there still so many radiologists?? www.ft.com/content/f2e0...
Definitely Rory. It's no wonder they've turned to AI...
November 14, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Definitely Rory. It's no wonder they've turned to AI...
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
...because organisations aren't bundles of individuals, but systems. And as @jasongorman.bsky.social points out, if you add a "fire-hose to your plumbing", and your plumbing has lots of bottlenecks, it might not go all that well.
October 30, 2025 at 1:19 PM
...because organisations aren't bundles of individuals, but systems. And as @jasongorman.bsky.social points out, if you add a "fire-hose to your plumbing", and your plumbing has lots of bottlenecks, it might not go all that well.
2nd edition of our The AI Shift newsletter is out. The question today: could AI be making us LESS productive? @jburnmurdoch.ft.com www.ft.com/content/2480... At the individual level, it's clear we're not reliable witnesses on this Q. At an organisational level, it gets even more interesting...
October 30, 2025 at 1:11 PM
2nd edition of our The AI Shift newsletter is out. The question today: could AI be making us LESS productive? @jburnmurdoch.ft.com www.ft.com/content/2480... At the individual level, it's clear we're not reliable witnesses on this Q. At an organisational level, it gets even more interesting...
Wrote this last month www.ft.com/content/9fca...
October 29, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Wrote this last month www.ft.com/content/9fca...
Does this description come from 2025, or 2006? Unnerving piece by @brookeamasters.ft.com www.ft.com/content/fddb...
October 29, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Does this description come from 2025, or 2006? Unnerving piece by @brookeamasters.ft.com www.ft.com/content/fddb...
Beautiful paragraph juxtaposition! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/t...
October 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Beautiful paragraph juxtaposition! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/t...
For women, the problem is compounded by stupidly small pockets. Women now live in a world where phone manufacturers think we have hands the size of bears, while jeans manufacturers think we have hands the size of pixies. pudding.cool/2018/08/pock...
October 21, 2025 at 12:29 PM
For women, the problem is compounded by stupidly small pockets. Women now live in a world where phone manufacturers think we have hands the size of bears, while jeans manufacturers think we have hands the size of pixies. pudding.cool/2018/08/pock...
My column today is about why capitalism won't provide a small phone alternative, even though it's usually pretty good at meeting different demand segments, even niche ones. Amazingly, it's the most read piece on FT.com, which tells me there really is a market there...
October 21, 2025 at 12:06 PM
My column today is about why capitalism won't provide a small phone alternative, even though it's usually pretty good at meeting different demand segments, even niche ones. Amazingly, it's the most read piece on FT.com, which tells me there really is a market there...
Bring back small phones! This is my iphone 13 mini. It is a perfectly-sized phone. But it's going to die - in a few years, Apple will stop supporting it w/updates. Yet there are now NO new smartphones to buy on the market that fit the human hand. www.ft.com/content/6332...
October 21, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Bring back small phones! This is my iphone 13 mini. It is a perfectly-sized phone. But it's going to die - in a few years, Apple will stop supporting it w/updates. Yet there are now NO new smartphones to buy on the market that fit the human hand. www.ft.com/content/6332...
This is such a good corrective by @chrisgiles.ft.com to the "working-age welfare spending is exploding/out-of-control" narrative that more & more people seem to see as an incontrovertible fact www.ft.com/content/ee67...
October 16, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This is such a good corrective by @chrisgiles.ft.com to the "working-age welfare spending is exploding/out-of-control" narrative that more & more people seem to see as an incontrovertible fact www.ft.com/content/ee67...
In which @stephenkb.bsky.social absolutely nails the way the Tories are performing a "never-ending lobotomy" on themselves by requiring everyone to believe (or at least pretend) Brexit was a good idea. www.ft.com/content/a65f...
October 14, 2025 at 2:08 PM
In which @stephenkb.bsky.social absolutely nails the way the Tories are performing a "never-ending lobotomy" on themselves by requiring everyone to believe (or at least pretend) Brexit was a good idea. www.ft.com/content/a65f...
On this third: the decline in working hours has slowed massively in most countries in recent decades, and in the US, has completely stopped since the 1970s (in spite of rising productivity since then). Americans don't even take all their (meagre) holiday allowances.
October 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
On this third: the decline in working hours has slowed massively in most countries in recent decades, and in the US, has completely stopped since the 1970s (in spite of rising productivity since then). Americans don't even take all their (meagre) holiday allowances.
First of all, it's not crazy to think technological change can lead to shorter working hours. Indeed, for much of the past 200 years, that's exactly what we've seen in developed countries. BUT to believe we're going to have another big decline in the work week, you have to believe 3 things...
October 14, 2025 at 10:46 AM
First of all, it's not crazy to think technological change can lead to shorter working hours. Indeed, for much of the past 200 years, that's exactly what we've seen in developed countries. BUT to believe we're going to have another big decline in the work week, you have to believe 3 things...
Investors are betting big bucks on the idea that AI will create an explosion of leisure time...e.g. it was a key part of the public rationale for the massive $55bn takeover of video games maker Electronic Arts. But are they right?? (short thread linked to my column today www.ft.com/content/4011...)
October 14, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Investors are betting big bucks on the idea that AI will create an explosion of leisure time...e.g. it was a key part of the public rationale for the massive $55bn takeover of video games maker Electronic Arts. But are they right?? (short thread linked to my column today www.ft.com/content/4011...)
Great piece from @emmavj.bsky.social who is calling Peak Vibe www.ft.com/content/14ef...
October 7, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Great piece from @emmavj.bsky.social who is calling Peak Vibe www.ft.com/content/14ef...
Even Jane Austen had to put up with Those Guys www.ft.com/content/bdcd...
October 2, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Even Jane Austen had to put up with Those Guys www.ft.com/content/bdcd...