Allison Pugh

Important thread worth reading

Our crisis is not loneliness but human beings becoming invisible | Aeon Essays Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being

Are human beings becoming invisible?

The Unseen
(Allison J Pugh • Aeon)

Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being.

aeon.co/essays/our-c...

Our crisis is not loneliness but human beings becoming invisible | Aeon Essays Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being

Fantastic piece by Allison Pugh. aeon.co/essays/our-c...

Best of all, she gets it: "We need to protect humane work in an increasingly automated and disconnected world." Yes please! and thank you!

screenshot of title page for recent review essay on The Last Human Job

So grateful for Judy Wajcman's review essay on #TheLastHumanJob. "It is hard to convey how rich and evocative...this book is. It is beautifully written & so immersive that reading it I felt I got to know several of the interviewees personally...The book could not be more welcome"

Furthermore, they're fields where human beings do connective labor, the primary contribution humans make in an AI world.

This is very short sighted. Did AI suggest this policy move?

#TheLastHumanJob

Watching @kenburns.bsky.social The American Revolution, but why once again is The Battle of Alamance missing? In 1771 in North Carolina, British troops attacked 2000 farmers armed with hoes and shovels, shooting at them with artillery. The first site of the revolution was not Boston

ASA joined w/ 59 scientific orgs to sign a letter urging Congress to fund the National Science Foundation at the highest level in FY 2026 appropriations & accede to Senate report language for sustained funding for the Social, Behavioral, & Economic (SBE) Sciences Directorate.

How to Cheat at Conversation A new AI tool promises to improve social interactions but instead makes them worse.

At this point, I started laughing out loud...

"The only problem with the date ad, he said, was that the girl wasn’t also using Cluely."

www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

“Better than nothing” systems are no substitute for actual healthcare.

@allisonpugh.bsky.social described this slippery slope to dystopia in her excellent book, “The Last Human Job; The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World.”
(2024, Princeton university press)

My takeaway from every new Epstein revelation is that some powerful people victimized many powerless young women, many more knew, some actively enabled it--and we're still being told that MeToo and accountability for sexual violence have gone too far

How Chicago’s MMA gyms, cyclists and pet shelters are uniting to resist ICE Teachers, clergy and MMA students are finding ways to counter immigration authorities’ attempts to detain undocumented neighbors.

A very powerful story

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Human connection in health care is under threat Sociologist Allison Pugh, PhD, sees efficiency pressures and tech reducing MDs’ “connective labor” with patients. She wants a movement to build relationships.

I look forward to listening to @allisonpugh.bsky.social talk about the value of these vital human moments at #AAMC25 and how we can better connect in a disconnected world. www.aamc.org/news/human-c...

Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison Pugh

Allison Pugh

Tomorrow (October 14th) at 9:00 and 10:45 am EDT, see keynote speaker @allisonpugh.bsky.social, author of The Last Human Job, at Planetree's Person-Centered Care Global Forum!

Learn more about this ticketed event here: buff.ly/w4nuUaz

Our crisis is not loneliness but human beings becoming invisible | Aeon Essays Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being

In Defense of Being Human aeon.co/essays/our-c... with @allisonpugh.bsky.social #LastHumanJob #digitalwthics

Allison J. Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social @jhu.edu received the 2025 Distinguished Scholarly Book Award during the ASA 2025 Annual Meeting for her book The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World. @princetonupress.bsky.social 

#ASA #sociology #ASA2025

The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison Pugh

Allison Pugh

Next week, attend Planetree's Person-Centered Care Global Forum to see keynote speaker @allisonpugh.bsky.social, author of The Last Human Job. The Forum will run October 12th-15th, with Pugh speaking on the 14th at 9:00 am and 10:45 am EDT.

Learn more about this ticketed event here: buff.ly/w4nuUaz

Putting ChatGPT on the Couch When I played doctor with the chatbot, the simulated patient confessed problems that are real—and that should worry all of us.

Sounds like an epitaph for our times: "longing for communion without the cost of mutuality"

Putting ChatGPT on the Couch www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

AI is taking on live translations. But jobs and meaning are getting lost. New artificial intelligence-driven capabilities are expected to accelerate the shift from translation done by humans to machines.

Wanting to support intelligence behind #LastHumanJob

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

#furureofwork HT @allisonpugh.bsky.social

Today translators, tomorrow... We need to prioritize human-to-human connection.

“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Thank you so much Sarah. I'm moved by what you say! It's a terrific, important book

I first met @allisonpugh.bsky.social on the page of her book, Longing and Belonging. I was instantly mesmerized by her writing and thinking. She offered a model of what I aspired to be as a sociologist.

So grateful to have her support now as I publish my first book!

Folks, you can't report the United States to its manager. There's no superhero coming to save us.

We don't need one giant act of heroism. We need millions of small acts of solidarity. Help one person in your community for nothing in return. Then, do it again. And again.

That's the revolution.

The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We’re not OK with our babies being born into poverty’ Infants in Rx Kids in Flint, Michigan, saw lower rates of prematurity and other issues, saving millions in NICU visits

The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We’re not OK with our babies being born into poverty’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

When a parrot wanted to connect with a distant friend, a touchscreen showed a selection of other birds available online. The parrots learned to activate the screen, designed specially for them, by touching it gently with their tongues rather than pecking aggressively with their beaks. "We had 26 birds involved," said Hirskyj-Douglas. "They would use the system up to three hours a day, with each call lasting up to five minutes." The interactions ranged from preening and playing with toys to loud vocal exchanges. "When we went through the data, we found that most of these parrots had favourite friends," said Hirskyj-Douglas.

Pet parrots which typically live alone (whilst those in the wild live in large flocks) were given the technology to call each other. They would use it for up to three hours a day, and developed favourite friends 💔
on.ft.com/3K05vhS

Escaping Perfectionism - Hidden Brain Media Perfectionism is everyone’s favorite flaw. It’s easy to assume that our push to be perfect is what leads to academic, athletic and professional success. But psychologist Thomas Curran says…

The Last Human Job author @allisonpugh.bsky.social returned to @hiddenbrain.bsky.social to answer audience questions about connection:

Escaping Perfectionism - Hidden Brain Media Perfectionism is everyone’s favorite flaw. It’s easy to assume that our push to be perfect is what leads to academic, athletic and professional success. But psychologist Thomas Curran says perfectioni...

Thanks to the Hidden Brain for revisiting #TheLastHumanJob! Still getting used to the personal angle that Shankar prefers: Preschool! Garlic! A false start in my dissertation! But I get how it helps the ideas come alive...

Check it out! My part starts at 50:10

hiddenbrain.org/podcast/esca...

OMG Julie this is the dream