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Allison Pugh

@allisonpugh.bsky.social
1.8K followers 235 following 173 posts

Care, Tech, Culture, Inequality. Check out The Last Human Job re the "scaling up" of humane work @PrincetonUPress. Johns Hopkins sociologist

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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Looking forward to going to Louisville, Kentucky to speak at the 6th Annual Good Business Summit on Oct 29! We'll talk about human work in the AI century, and how leaders can protect real connection as AI changes how we work. If you can join us, Canopy is offering 15% off with code GOODBIZ2026.
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
An inspired full throated defense of writing as a human activity, made poorer when we invite AI to the party. Fantastic Model Behavior: George Saunders on.substack.com/p/model-beha...
on.substack.com
Model Behavior: George Saunders
“Of course, if AI can cure cancer, bravo. I’m all for it. But even with cancer cured, death will still arrive somehow.”
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Theodor Von Bönghitz Adorno @tzraick.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Is this what @allisonpugh.bsky.social meant by “better than nothing solutions?” Maybe we can move beyond this false paradigm of austerity and actually, idk, fund essential government services? Nobody wants an ai chatbot public defender, be so for real. -face palm & deep sigh-
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Honored to give the Irving Bluestone Lecture on Workplace Issues at Wayne State University. Human connective labor is worth preserving, and we'll need to get organized to do it. Thanks to Labor@Wayne for the invite, and the engaged audience!
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Institute for Public Knowledge @ipk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This week at IPK: @monasloane.bsky.social discusses her new book, Predicted: How AI Is Restructuring Social Life, with @allisonpugh.bsky.social and @cmcilwain.bsky.social.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
But we don't have to surrender to that. We can keep nurturing our relationships and our communities (and our families ffs) and it is ever more meaningful to do so.
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Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
@jessgrose.bsky.social, as usual, on target. "It feels as if our educational leaders have abdicated their responsibility to students, teachers, parents and society by allowing Big Tech to more or less dictate national policy on screens in public schools."
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Scandinavian Solution to A.I. in Schools (Gift Article)
Every minute of delay in regulating A.I. use in schools is another opportunity for Big Tech to fill the vacuum.
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Arrianna Marie Planey, PhD MA @arrianna-planey.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
It's really looking like AI-free classrooms will be for students at "elite" or "top" schools.
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Even if it is "just a tool" (It's not just a tool), AI allows bad actors to ruin things. (Criminals can hit you over the head with a hammer). Company Offering ‘100% Human-Written, Never AI’ Medical Research Is Entirely AI www.404media.co/company-offe...
404media.co
Company Offering ‘100% Human-Written, Never AI’ Medical Research Is Entirely AI
Research Gold's team of human methodologists are either AI generated or using the identity of real people without their permission
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Ms. Kathy Reid (she/her) @kathyreid.au · 09/08/2026
The sociologist Dr @allisonpugh.bsky.social in my view, makes the case for where we should look for remedy in her book "The Last Human Job": professions of connection, where the relationship between the professional and the client is critical to the outcome (second-order cybernetics, anyone?).
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
A terrific play by play of today's session on #TheLastHumanJob. What a wonderful, inspiring, humane ritual that these author meets critics sessions are. I'm floored and honored by the comments
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Owen Whooley @owenwho.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
How dare a seismologist study earthquakes.
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rm [-r] lininger @0xdaeda1a.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Why is math so obsessed with numbers!!!!!
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
My favorite part is where she mentions sociology's "obsession with inequality.". Isn't that like criticizing history for its obsession with the past? Sociology does lots of things well but one of the things it does best is decoding inequality, particularly useful in our second Gilded Age
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Everyone's talking about did they steal Apple secrets, but the news is OpenAI's making an AI companion for us to use in our homes, sold as "a computer built for AI to help busy people be more productive." But these are automated friends & we'll see a social cost. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
OpenAI’s First Device Will Be Movable, Screenless Speaker Built as AI Companion
OpenAI’s much-anticipated push into consumer devices is slated to begin with a mobile, screen-free smart speaker designed to be a new type of home computer for the AI era, according to people familiar...
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Business start-ups up 35% in 18 months? Could be a positive outcome from GenAI, which definitely makes that easier... Projected Business Formations Within Four Quarters: Professional Services in the United States fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BFPBF...
fred.stlouisfed.org
Projected Business Formations Within Four Quarters: Professional Services in the United States
Projected Business Formations Within Four Quarters: Professional Services in the United States
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Upriver Press @upriverpress.com · 25/06/2026
I completely agree about @allisonpugh.bsky.social and The Last Human Job. It presents important, lasting principles for our times. Great book. We reviewed it at the link below. upriverpress.substack.com/p/the-datafi...
upriverpress.substack.com
The Datafication of People
Upriver Press Book Review
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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
@allisonpugh.bsky.social's The Last Human Job is featured in Moe Carrick’s piece for @fastcompany.com: “Pugh’s research. . . [is] about what it costs, to both parties, when someone is seen versus processed. AI will not save your culture. The people leader who knows her people will."
fastcompany.com
The work AI can't do
Companies are investing millions in AI-powered people analytics while starving the human relationships that keep top talent engaged.
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Michael Feola @feolski.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
It's amazing what you can do when you remember that schools have a primary responsibility to the children they teach and nurture -- not to the ed-tech industry or gen AI profit margins.
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Wow! "Pugh’s research was never really only about physicians and chaplains. It was about what it costs, to both parties, when someone is seen versus processed. AI will not save your culture. The people leader who knows her people will." www.fastcompany.com/91557933/the...
fastcompany.com
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Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
This is an incredibly depressing that reveals how AI is already being used to replace humans in home care. But it also reveals how willing many are to sacrifice privacy and human connection for a false sense of control.
wired.com
My Father Wants to Age in Place. AI Will Be Watching
Devices that monitor seniors for safety are appealing to worried loved ones and underresourced home care agencies.
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Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Related must-read by @allisonpugh.bsky.social:
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Topol is great but it takes him a while to get here: "Frankly, over-adherence to guidelines may presage loss of the art of medicine, not taking in the human factor of each patient & the human-to-human bond...the foundation of the patient-doctor relationship." erictopol.substack.com/p/agentic-ai...
erictopol.substack.com
Agentic AI Comes to Medicine
Expansion of Capabilities With Two New Medical AI Models
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
"Both men believe that in a few years many medical services, especially primary care, will be conducted entirely by stand-alone AI." Especially primary care! The domain where relationship matters most! How will bots motivate humans? Or offer them dignity? www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
washingtonpost.com
Inside the Trump-backed push to bring AI doctors into American medicine
The administration is laying the groundwork for chatbots that can diagnose illness and prescribe medicine, but physicians say AI can introduce more problems.
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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Great to see @allisonpugh.bsky.social's The Last Human Job reviewed by @theceme.bsky.social, where Stephanie MacGillivray calls it "...a masterpiece in the art of connective labour, at times technically challenging, other times deeply moving.” Read more:
theceme.org
'The Last Human Job' by Allison Pugh - Centre for Enterprise Markets and Ethics | CEME
A CEME review by Stephanie MacGillivray of The Last Human Job by Allison Pugh, on connective labour, human relationships and the limits of automation.
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
www.theregister.com/ai-ml/2026/0...
theregister.com
Sick and wrong: Ontario auditors find doctors' AI note takers routinely blow basic facts
60% of evaluated AI Scribe systems mixed up prescribed drugs in patient notes, auditors say
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
This is the future of marketing
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Someday, this will be the good old days www.wired.com/story/i-work...
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jenna newman phd @jennanewman.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
“As everyday interactions move online & services become automated, ppl are missing the small moments of recognition that once shaped social life… —these small interactions helped build a sense of belonging in communities. Losing them adds to what Pugh calls a ‘depersonalization crisis’.”🧪
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
ICYMI "When people feel noticed by others, it strengthens mental health, community, and trust. Online networking rarely provides that. “There’s a very constrained emotional range,” Pugh says." www.mitsloanme.com/article/the-...
mitsloanme.com
The Visibility Paradox of LinkedIn: Connected, but Not Seen
This mismatch between what humans need and how the platform is designed helps explain why LinkedIn posts often share personal experiences in soulless, professional language.
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Jean Beaman @jean23bean.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Paging @allisonpugh.bsky.social ☺️☺️☺️
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Johns Hopkins Arts & Sciences @jhuartssciences.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Congratulations to @allisonpugh.bsky.social and Mark Christian Thompson on being named 2026 @guggfellows.bsky.social. Their selection recognizes outstanding scholarship across sociology, literature, philosophy, and the humanities. hub.jhu.edu/2026/04/26/a...
hub.jhu.edu
Two Johns Hopkins faculty members named Guggenheim Fellows
Sociologist Allison Pugh and English professor Mark Christian Thompson are among the 223 fellows recognized
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
The end of the barista? Coming to San Francisco is always like coming to the future, question is is it one we want or not?
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American Sociological Association @asanews.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Congratulations to ASA members Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social @jhu.edu and Xuefei Ren (Michigan State University) on their appointment to the 101st class of Guggenheim Fellows. bit.ly/4u72rlZ
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Check out this initiative to connect nurse managers from around the country, and invite real talk about the relational challenges in modern healthcare!. See more at slowtalk.us/humanize
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Guggenheim Foundation @guggfellows.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
A privilege and a pleasure to celebrate the 101st Class of Fellows with an announcement in the @nytimes.com 🎉
Black text on newsprint announcing the newest class of Guggenheim Fellows
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Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford @casbsstanford.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Congrats to CASBS fellows selected as 2026 Guggenheim Fellows 🙌👏 Damon Centola | Jamie Kreiner | @allisonpugh.bsky.social |@robbwiller.bsky.social | @dziblatt.bsky.social @guggfellows.bsky.social announcement: www.gf.org/stories/anno...
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Thrilled to be part of the 101st class!
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Joseph Lariscy @josephlariscy.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
The 2028 ASA meeting will be in Baltimore, MD! The 2028 meeting was initially planned to be virtual but was then switched to in-person. This will be the first ASA meeting in the South since the 2010 meeting in Atlanta.
2028 ASA in Baltimore
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
BREAKING: In response to huge cuts in Trump's budget request, NSF is shuttering its SBE directorate. Staff will be transferred to other parts of the agency and "grants that align with Administration priorities" will be maintained. That & more w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social & @edwrdchen.bsky.social
nature.com
Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration
Budget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
"criticizing AI use in journalism or other creative industries is classist" NO IT IS NOT there is a class that benefits enormously from cognitive surrender, epistemic warfare, and the enclosure of all hitherto produced culture and it is NOT THE WORKING CLASS
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CUNY GC Sociology @cunygcsociology.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Our next colloquium will take place on Friday, April 17th, from 3-5. Prof @allisonpugh.bsky.social will join us to discuss her latest book, "The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World." This is a hybrid event. Learn more here: www.gc.cuny.edu/events/last-...
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Thoughtful! Yes we can entertain lonely elders with digital companions. But they are not then less alone... "Discussions of the prospects for digital companions have neglected the role played by touch, physical companionship, and mutual aid in promoting human well-being" cacm.acm.org/research/aga...
cacm.acm.org
Against Imaginary Friends: Why Digital Companions Are No Solution to Social Isolation – Communications of the ACM
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
"Though the AI nurses Kennedy mentions do not exist" Love this casual mention lol www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
washingtonpost.com
RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz have a plan to save rural health care. Here’s the catch.
Top health officials point to AI as the solution for dying hospitals, but experts from rural areas of the country say the solution isn’t that simple.
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
It's happening. Kaiser works by saving $ where needed, but using AI for mental health intake may prove pound foolish www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
‘Thank God they’re still alive’: Kaiser therapists claim its new screening system puts patients at higher risk by delaying their care
Kaiser pushed back on striking workers’ claims and AI fears, saying it delivers ‘timely, high-quality care to meet members’ needs’
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Jared Moore @jaredlcm.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Disturbing anecdotal reports of "AI psychosis" and negative psychological effects have been emerging in the news. But what actually happens during these lengthy delusional "spirals"? In our preprint, we analyze chat logs from 19 users who experienced severe psychological harm🧵👇
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Allison Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Check it out! @jenniferreich.bsky.social in the nytimes, telling it like it is re the danger of daring measles to rise again. Showing the vital importance of sociology for all! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Measles Is Roaring Back. We Are Not Ready.
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American Sociological Association @asanews.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
For ASA’s Hill Day, staffer Heather Young + Council members Allison J. Pugh @allisonpugh.bsky.social @jhu.edu + Rashawn Ray @sociologistray.bsky.social @univofmaryland.bsky.social met w/ U.S. Congressman (MD) Kweisi Mfume’s staff @repkweisimfume.bsky.social to advocate for sociology. #ASA #hillday
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