In an era where headlines frequently warn of an impending ‘AI shock’ to the labour market, securing stable and dignified employment feels increasingly precarious. As job vacancies in the UK hit a five-year low this June, the intersection of artificial intelligence and daily work life has become a pressing concern. Sarah O’Connor, a veteran journalist at the Financial Times, tackles this uncertainty in her latest book, investigating who truly controls the terms of modern work.
A Historical Parallel
O’Connor argues that the current disruption is less a novel catastrophe and more a modern reconfiguration of historical struggles. The book draws parallels between today’s digital monitoring and the industrial disputes of the past, specifically referencing a 1969 strike by Swedish miners who protested intrusive output surveillance by carrying the slogan, “We are not machines.”
While the technology changes, the core conflict remains the same: the tension between the drive to maximize productivity and the need to protect human safety and independent judgment. Through her reporting, O’Connor illustrates that the threats posed by automation to workers’ well-being are deeply rooted in old battles, suggesting that the path forward requires learning from the past as much as looking to the future.
Source: The Guardian