YOU WERE NEVER JUST USING IT:

How Technology Rewrote the Self, One Click at a Time
 

Book Launch & Conversation with Alexander Manu and Sinead Bovell
 

📍 OCAD University Auditorium, Toronto
đź“… Tuesday, June 2, 2026
🕔 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

 

Join celebrated innovation strategist and author Alexander Manu for the launch of his provocative new book, You Were Never Just Using It: How Technology Rewrote the Self, One Click at a Time.

Manu will be in conversation with Sinead Bovell â€” futurist, entrepreneur, and advocate for technology education and ethics, widely recognized for her work bridging the gap between emerging technologies and underrepresented communities. Dubbed “The AI Educator for Non-Nerds” by Vogue, Bovell brings a sharp and accessible lens to one of the defining questions of our time:

What if technology isn’t just changing how we live — but who we become?

In You Were Never Just Using It, Manu argues that the real impact of technology has never been the devices themselves, but the subtle behavioural shifts they create. From desktops to smartphones to generative AI, each innovation quietly reshapes our habits, identities, relationships, and even our understanding of ourselves.

Thought-provoking and deeply relevant, this conversation will explore:

  • How technology rewires human behaviour
  • The rise of AI and the “post-digital self”
  • The hidden psychological architecture of modern life
  • What it means to remain human in an increasingly automated world

Whether you work in technology, design, media, education, business, or simply feel overwhelmed by the pace of change, this event offers a rare opportunity to step back and examine how digital life has transformed us.

Following the discussion, guests are invited to stay for a book signing.

Books will be available for purchase on site.

Presented by OCAD University and Sutherland House Books.

Event poster

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