Book reviews: Ethics, Equity, and Social Impact
Topics: Inclusive communication, DEI, risk/crisis communication, AI governance, and societal implications.
The Last Human Job: Seeing Each Other in an Age of Automation
Allison J. Pugh. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2026. 394 pages, including index.
Index Terms — AI, artificial intelligence, automation, human job
Reviewed by Jeanette Evans, Associate Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication (jeanettepevans@gmail.com).
Due to the development of AI and technologies such as the ones that replace humans at automated factories and self-checkouts, Allison Pugh addresses in The Last Human Job: Seeing Each Other in an Age of Automation issues such as what can AI and technology not replace. For example, is it possible to effectively automate jobs such as physician, teacher, therapist, caregiver, and hairdresser? These jobs rely on empathy and should be done by human beings as what people do for each other in certain jobs is valuable and cannot be effectively automated. Pugh reaches this conclusion after conducting interviews with people in a range of professions that require empathy and other human contact that she argues cannot be automated though Big Tech is often trying. She also shows how some organizations effectively tap into this need for human beings to do certain jobs with examples being health care and counseling.
In her introduction to this 2026 edition, Pugh notes that since the original 2024 edition, Big Tech has “doubled down on the automation” (p. x) of what she calls socio-emotional work being work once done by humans. There is an impact from AI and technologies not only on business and productivity but also on how millions of people have their own AI companions with companies that offer chatbots for medical opinions, therapy, coaching, and counseling. Pugh asks the question what if we need not just to be seen but to be seen by another human being? She also connects the current loneliness epidemic to reliance on technology instead of human beings. This makes me agree with her idea that what we need are actual human beings to continue to do jobs, such as therapy, coaching, providing medical care, and counseling.
Pugh interviewed people whose work involves human interaction as she argues that protection of these human connections is important and only possible with real human beings, not AI or other technologies. Examples of whom she interviewed are teachers, nurses, mental health therapists, and others in healthcare (including physicians, caregivers, and chaplains), service industries, and the general workforce. It is easy to see why these jobs should be done by human beings, but also easy to see how Big Tech would attempt to automate the jobs. Of special note are interviews Pugh conducted with chaplains and how their work with the families of a deceased loved one clearly shows the value of a human connection.
A simple, but insightful, example on the importance of a human connection is Martha, a Texan postal worker. Martha developed a human connection with many customers. These customers gave her a going-away party with cards and gifts including their phone numbers asking Martha to stay in touch. This was so moving that it made her cry. A chatbot could never have such a customer connection. Here, and throughout The Last Human Job, Pugh clearly shows how human connection enriches the lives of real people. It even binds communities together, which is a good thing.
Both practitioners and those in academia will find something of value in The Last Human Job. Practitioners in a human connections-related field will find arguments against automation. Practitioners wanting to automate an endeavor with human connections will find information that may caution against automation. Teachers will find great food for thought for their classes, whether the classes be for fields with strong human connections or classes for those going into the automation field. Students will find ideas of interest concerning the automation of jobs that require high human connections. For a wide audience, The Last Human Job argues effectively about the value of human work as we live more in a world that is disconnected and automated.