Sarah O'Connor
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com
FT columnist, writing about work, technology & economics.
Reposted by Sarah O'Connor
In which @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com discuss how social scientists have been using AI to write code for data analysis, and what this means for other professionals who do similar work … like data journalists: www.ft.com/content/9183...
The AI Shift: Agentic AI is coming for quantitative research
The real value of an analyst now lies in the quality and quantity of their ideas
www.ft.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:58 PM
In which @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com discuss how social scientists have been using AI to write code for data analysis, and what this means for other professionals who do similar work … like data journalists: www.ft.com/content/9183...
Ooh I’ll have to try that one, thanks. Not sure re:audiobook, I just read it
December 31, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Ooh I’ll have to try that one, thanks. Not sure re:audiobook, I just read it
I'm not really one for lengthy "what I read this year" lists, so here's a super short one. The best fiction book I read was Venomous Lumpsuckers by Ned Beauman. The best non-fiction book I read was Private Revolutions by @yuanfenyang.bsky.social. I recommend them both heartily!!
December 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I'm not really one for lengthy "what I read this year" lists, so here's a super short one. The best fiction book I read was Venomous Lumpsuckers by Ned Beauman. The best non-fiction book I read was Private Revolutions by @yuanfenyang.bsky.social. I recommend them both heartily!!
Yes, thanks, looks interesting!
December 22, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Yes, thanks, looks interesting!
(and a shout out to our amazing illustrator
Efi Chalikopoulou who comes up with a really cool illustration every week on a tricky topic to draw!)
Efi Chalikopoulou who comes up with a really cool illustration every week on a tricky topic to draw!)
December 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM
(and a shout out to our amazing illustrator
Efi Chalikopoulou who comes up with a really cool illustration every week on a tricky topic to draw!)
Efi Chalikopoulou who comes up with a really cool illustration every week on a tricky topic to draw!)
If AI is coming for junior lawyers’ jobs, why does their pay keep going up? Our latest AI Shift newsletter... www.ft.com/content/1d85...
The AI Shift: If AI is coming for junior lawyers’ jobs, why does their pay keep going up?
Automation may be freeing up their time to do more valuable work
www.ft.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:40 PM
If AI is coming for junior lawyers’ jobs, why does their pay keep going up? Our latest AI Shift newsletter... www.ft.com/content/1d85...
Isn't it funny how your brain just knows when you've left one gulp of tea in a cup, somewhere in the house. Like, somehow you just know you're one gulp short of having drunk a whole cup. Is this a uniquely British skill, I wonder?
December 18, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Isn't it funny how your brain just knows when you've left one gulp of tea in a cup, somewhere in the house. Like, somehow you just know you're one gulp short of having drunk a whole cup. Is this a uniquely British skill, I wonder?
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...
Reposted by Sarah O'Connor
It's so important to read splashy findings about the impact of AI on jobs with a critical eye 🤔
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com and John Burn-Murdoch are spot on here - highlighting issues I see in these studies time and time again.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... #EconSky
3 of the big ones... [1/5]
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com and John Burn-Murdoch are spot on here - highlighting issues I see in these studies time and time again.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... #EconSky
3 of the big ones... [1/5]
The AI Shift: How to read the news
Questions to keep in mind when you come across splashy AI stories
giftarticle.ft.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:05 AM
It's so important to read splashy findings about the impact of AI on jobs with a critical eye 🤔
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com and John Burn-Murdoch are spot on here - highlighting issues I see in these studies time and time again.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... #EconSky
3 of the big ones... [1/5]
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com and John Burn-Murdoch are spot on here - highlighting issues I see in these studies time and time again.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... #EconSky
3 of the big ones... [1/5]
Sure, we're the weak and decaying ones...
December 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Sure, we're the weak and decaying ones...
great idea for a film!
December 9, 2025 at 12:59 PM
great idea for a film!
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...
Reposted by Sarah O'Connor
This week's FT AI shift newsletter is so far up my street, it's practically parked on my drive - On how, despite AI leaders predictions of doom, there are now growing numbers of radiologists and how those professionals are working with AI @sarahoconnorft.ft.com @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This week's FT AI shift newsletter is so far up my street, it's practically parked on my drive - On how, despite AI leaders predictions of doom, there are now growing numbers of radiologists and how those professionals are working with AI @sarahoconnorft.ft.com @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
Make Britain Decent Again?
December 4, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Make Britain Decent Again?
Reposted by Sarah O'Connor
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
thanks Tim! So glad you're finding them interesting. They're really fun to do.
November 28, 2025 at 10:32 AM
thanks Tim! So glad you're finding them interesting. They're really fun to do.
Reposted by Sarah O'Connor
If you're lucky enough to be able to read the @financialtimes.com these evidence-based conversations between @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com are particularly fascinating. Here's the latest.
The AI Shift: Is AI about to break polling?
Online surveys are susceptible to bogus respondents and synthetic samples warrant scepticism
www.ft.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:59 AM
If you're lucky enough to be able to read the @financialtimes.com these evidence-based conversations between @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com are particularly fascinating. Here's the latest.
I dunno if "sated" is the right word but I know what you mean. It's almost like the opposite of sated, like that feeling I once heard (maybe apocryphal) that Pringles aims for - that you just aren't quite sated so have to keep going.
November 25, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I dunno if "sated" is the right word but I know what you mean. It's almost like the opposite of sated, like that feeling I once heard (maybe apocryphal) that Pringles aims for - that you just aren't quite sated so have to keep going.
Out of interest, I just checked my Facebook feed. I had to scroll through 86 posts before I saw one from someone I know. (shout out to @groomb.bsky.social whose post it was!)
My Facebook feed no longer has anything from people I know. Instead it's 99% AI slop videos of "trains floating on canal boats having accidents in which someone falls into the water". It's horrible, mainly because I can't stop watching them on repeat and the algorithm knows the darkness of my soul.
November 25, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Out of interest, I just checked my Facebook feed. I had to scroll through 86 posts before I saw one from someone I know. (shout out to @groomb.bsky.social whose post it was!)
That's s strange, I had this exact thought this morning (not about your weird AI video predilictions, but just how there was literally nothing from anyone I know)
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 PM
That's s strange, I had this exact thought this morning (not about your weird AI video predilictions, but just how there was literally nothing from anyone I know)