About Human & Machine
Human & Machine examines how judgement operates inside complex systems.
It looks at situations where decisions are no longer taken directly but quietly move into language, process or technology; often without anyone noticing when that shift occurred.
This work is not concerned with intent or ethics. It looks at function: what systems do when complexity increases.
What this publication looks at
Human & Machine studies recurring patterns observed in contemporary organisations:
how reassurance can replace decision under pressure
how alignment can substitute for responsibility
how tools and models can absorb agency without being recognised as doing so
These patterns persist because they are functional.
They reduce anxiety. They maintain continuity.
They also reshape how judgement is exercised.
How to read this work
The essays published here do not offer advice, frameworks, or solutions.
They describe how certain dynamics operate once systems reach a level of complexity where responsibility becomes diffuse.
The intention is not to help readers feel more confident about uncertainty, but to make visible mechanisms that usually remain implicit—especially where humans and machines interact around judgement, authority, and decision-making.
What to expect
You will not find leadership tips, growth playbooks, or guidance on “using AI better.”
You will find essays that name patterns already at work in organisations—some abstract, others uncomfortably familiar.
That is intentional.
Human & Machine is a publication by Human & Machine Ltd, London.
