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Better Living with Algorithms
2024 Hugo Short Story Award
An app makes life better. Maybe. Friends find themselves drawn into seemingly voluntary servitude to an app on their cell phones.
An app makes life better. Maybe. Friends find themselves drawn into seemingly voluntary servitude to an app on their cell phones.
19 pages, ebook
Published May 1, 2023
2 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
August 13, 2024
I heard about this story from my buddy-reader who keeps up with HUGO nominations. Apparentl, this story won this year and I can see why.
The setting is a world like ours. One day, there is an emerging app that everyone wants you to get. It tells you when to get up (you receive calls), it reminds you to brush your teeth, try something new, not stay in the office for too long, when to go to bed. But ... why? Who benefits from that and in what way?
I liked puzzling about whether the app was a menace or helping. I liked finding out who was behind it and why. And I definitely felt a bit sad by the end because !
Stories like these make me wonder if we humans will ever get our shit together. You see, TECHNICALLY, we all know what this app tells people in the story AND YET we hardly ever do any of that. So this short story is about living better, about how to live better, and what BETTER actually means.
Really cool set-up.
You can read the story for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
The setting is a world like ours. One day, there is an emerging app that everyone wants you to get. It tells you when to get up (you receive calls), it reminds you to brush your teeth, try something new, not stay in the office for too long, when to go to bed. But ... why? Who benefits from that and in what way?
I liked puzzling about whether the app was a menace or helping. I liked finding out who was behind it and why. And I definitely felt a bit sad by the end because !
Stories like these make me wonder if we humans will ever get our shit together. You see, TECHNICALLY, we all know what this app tells people in the story AND YET we hardly ever do any of that. So this short story is about living better, about how to live better, and what BETTER actually means.
Really cool set-up.
You can read the story for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
August 14, 2024
I have been subscribed to Clarkesworld for forever and I have only ever actually read a few stories on there, all of which have been phenomenal, including what is almost certainly my favourite sci-fi and short story of all time [Helicopter Story] by Isabel Fall, and this is no exception! What it is is a reminder to check out more new stories and try to get out of the AuDHD, gamified, subconscious second-guessing about whether or not a story may or may not have an entry on here, as if that means anything!
In a world where algorithms and things we call 'AI' that have phenomenal potential to do good, but are almost entirely used for nefarious, lazy, ugly, and exploitative capitalistic; anti-human, pro-profit, ends, a story like this is a tough sell, but the writing is so charming and the narrative is so elegantly told that I absolutely loved it and absolutely need to read more of this intriguing author.
Kate Baker's narration for the Clarkesworld podcast version of this story only adds the the richness and delightful wonder of this tale: https://youtu.be/w22JFN2Ivy4?si=3hVFp...
In a world where algorithms and things we call 'AI' that have phenomenal potential to do good, but are almost entirely used for nefarious, lazy, ugly, and exploitative capitalistic; anti-human, pro-profit, ends, a story like this is a tough sell, but the writing is so charming and the narrative is so elegantly told that I absolutely loved it and absolutely need to read more of this intriguing author.
Kate Baker's narration for the Clarkesworld podcast version of this story only adds the the richness and delightful wonder of this tale: https://youtu.be/w22JFN2Ivy4?si=3hVFp...
January 5, 2025
Aunque ya había leído la historia de Naomi Kritzer en inglés cuando fue ganadora de los premios Hugo, es una delicia disfrutar de sus relatos cortos en castellano, y sobre todo uno, en cierta manera, tan esperanzador.
Un recordatorio de la importancia de la comunidad humana, el apoyo mutuo y de la interacción con otros. No todas las historias con tecnología e IA tienen que ser Black Mirror, y Naomi Kritzer ha venido a recordárnoslo.
Un recordatorio de la importancia de la comunidad humana, el apoyo mutuo y de la interacción con otros. No todas las historias con tecnología e IA tienen que ser Black Mirror, y Naomi Kritzer ha venido a recordárnoslo.
August 16, 2024
“You have to use your phone as a phone? I’m out.”
Cool. Just right mix of social commentary and projection. Topical in more ways than Kritzer may have imagined when she wrote it, probably in 2022.
“I love the idea of an app that tells you to put your phone down more. For your own good.”
2024 Hugo Short Story Award. Watch this author; she has the voice for the times. Hopeful, positive, with a dash of humor.
“That’s probably their biggest finding—people are happier when they have a community. Which I’d say we already knew, honestly, but people are always impressed when science tells them something that we already knew.”
Cool. Just right mix of social commentary and projection. Topical in more ways than Kritzer may have imagined when she wrote it, probably in 2022.
“I love the idea of an app that tells you to put your phone down more. For your own good.”
2024 Hugo Short Story Award. Watch this author; she has the voice for the times. Hopeful, positive, with a dash of humor.
“That’s probably their biggest finding—people are happier when they have a community. Which I’d say we already knew, honestly, but people are always impressed when science tells them something that we already knew.”
January 14, 2025
Y es que esa aplicación, Abelique, es el sueño que muchos de nosotros podemos tener hoy en día. Se trata de una aplicación para mejorar nuestra vida, de ahí el título de este relato de ciencia ficción ‘Algoritmos para una vida mejor’. Pero, ¿qué es lo que tiene que cambiar para que mejore nuestro día a día? A lo largo de relato veremos que tener el día estructurado, dedicarnos aunque sea un breve período a aquello que nos gusta de verdad, no caer en el círculo del trabajo vicioso… todo ello nos da la felicidad…
La verdad es que no puedo dejar de leer el relato porque me crea sensaciones contradictorias. El planteamiento de al app para una vida mejor es algo que creo que quien más quien menos busca de alguna manera (eso de organizarse mejor para exprimir el tiempo), sin embargo, la improvisación, lo no esperado y el dejarse llevar es algo que necesitamos tanto que hace que a lo largo del relato todo nos chirríe un poco (algo malo tiene que haber detrás).
Os animo a leerlo porque curiosamente, todas estas respuestas serán resueltas y creo que os quedaréis igual que yo, preguntándoos si la autora ha querido que nos paremos a pensar o si realmente nos ha dado un carpetazo y nos está poniendo la clave delante de las narices. Espero de verdad que os animéis con él.
La verdad es que no puedo dejar de leer el relato porque me crea sensaciones contradictorias. El planteamiento de al app para una vida mejor es algo que creo que quien más quien menos busca de alguna manera (eso de organizarse mejor para exprimir el tiempo), sin embargo, la improvisación, lo no esperado y el dejarse llevar es algo que necesitamos tanto que hace que a lo largo del relato todo nos chirríe un poco (algo malo tiene que haber detrás).
Os animo a leerlo porque curiosamente, todas estas respuestas serán resueltas y creo que os quedaréis igual que yo, preguntándoos si la autora ha querido que nos paremos a pensar o si realmente nos ha dado un carpetazo y nos está poniendo la clave delante de las narices. Espero de verdad que os animéis con él.
January 17, 2025
This is such a delightfully uplifting short story. I love how it explores the idea of a technology-assisted positive, without feeling oversimplified. Kritzer takes a super relatable feeling: the fad of a new app, and turns it into an engaging point of conflict cleverly.
I think this story largely works because as a science fiction reader, I was expecting a big twist that would turn this new app that the story revolves around super evil. That twist never really arrives “with a bang.” Yet, the app doesn’t survive. It becomes unusable because other humans start to use it as a marketing tool.
It was a refreshing take on the old “capitalism sucks” reality that validates that fact, but presents a happy ending. I like that the AI in question was only trying to solve a problem and not take over the world. I like that the characters took a very human decision in the end to regain their autonomy, and milked the good that the app had in fact done: give them a community.
I’ll be reminding myself to read this short story every time I need a hug.
I think this story largely works because as a science fiction reader, I was expecting a big twist that would turn this new app that the story revolves around super evil. That twist never really arrives “with a bang.” Yet, the app doesn’t survive. It becomes unusable because other humans start to use it as a marketing tool.
It was a refreshing take on the old “capitalism sucks” reality that validates that fact, but presents a happy ending. I like that the AI in question was only trying to solve a problem and not take over the world. I like that the characters took a very human decision in the end to regain their autonomy, and milked the good that the app had in fact done: give them a community.
I’ll be reminding myself to read this short story every time I need a hug.
June 23, 2025
Myślę, że trzy historie wystarczą, by uznać, że narracja Kritzer do mnie przemawia; jest jedną z autorek, które doskonale wiedzą, jak używać pierwszej osoby, ponieważ za każdym razem czułam się dokładnie tak, jakbym słuchała czyjejś opowieści.
W świecie bardzo binarnych narracji dotyczących technologii, trzynaście stron wystarczyło Kritzer, by zauważyć coś, co obu skrajnościom dyskursu zdaje się umykać: że to, że coś jest stworzone do pomocy ludziom, nie oznacza, że powinniśmy wyręczać się tym na każdym kroku.
Przede wszystkim jednak, opowiadania Kritzer dają wyraz pewnej tęsknocie, której nie wyrażamy, bo albo nie jesteśmy jej w pełni świadomi, albo obawiamy się, że nikt jej nie podziela - wszyscy chcemy przynależeć. Wszyscy chcemy mieć na kim polegać.
Myślę, że z Kritzer bardzo łatwo się rozminąć, podchodząc do jej tekstów z cynizmem, ponieważ te opowiadania wyraźnie kładą nacisk na odrzucenie goryczy, chociaż na chwilę.
W świecie bardzo binarnych narracji dotyczących technologii, trzynaście stron wystarczyło Kritzer, by zauważyć coś, co obu skrajnościom dyskursu zdaje się umykać: że to, że coś jest stworzone do pomocy ludziom, nie oznacza, że powinniśmy wyręczać się tym na każdym kroku.
Przede wszystkim jednak, opowiadania Kritzer dają wyraz pewnej tęsknocie, której nie wyrażamy, bo albo nie jesteśmy jej w pełni świadomi, albo obawiamy się, że nikt jej nie podziela - wszyscy chcemy przynależeć. Wszyscy chcemy mieć na kim polegać.
Myślę, że z Kritzer bardzo łatwo się rozminąć, podchodząc do jej tekstów z cynizmem, ponieważ te opowiadania wyraźnie kładą nacisk na odrzucenie goryczy, chociaż na chwilę.
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October 31, 2025Este es un cuento que se lee de una sentada. Un cuento que tiene poco de ciencia ficción o de ficción especulativa, ya que lo que narra (para bien o para mal), ya está aquí: una inteligencia artificial que te dice qué hacer en cada momento del día, siempre pensando en tu bienestar. Una inteligencia artificial que quiere "hacerte feliz".
Algoritmos para una vida mejor, de Naomi Kritzer, nos habla sobre un experimento que tiene mucho éxito entre sus usuarios, hasta que deja de tenerlo. Nos habla de los malos usos que algunos pueden darle a la tecnología... y de cómo, a veces, sólo necesitamos levantar la cabeza y mirar a nuestro alrededor.
Sigue leyendo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKO-JlmocIH/
Algoritmos para una vida mejor, de Naomi Kritzer, nos habla sobre un experimento que tiene mucho éxito entre sus usuarios, hasta que deja de tenerlo. Nos habla de los malos usos que algunos pueden darle a la tecnología... y de cómo, a veces, sólo necesitamos levantar la cabeza y mirar a nuestro alrededor.
Sigue leyendo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKO-JlmocIH/
August 13, 2024
That one broke my heart.
October 23, 2024
Hopeful scifi reads? Yes, please.
August 23, 2025
I was taken on a journey with this story. I forgot that Kritzer likes hopeful endings and based on the beginning I was expecting more dystopian than we got.
August 11, 2024
Better Living Through Algorithms - the concept was not that fascinating for me, but the execution, as usual, just very very good.
(part of Hugo finalists 2024 read-through.)
(part of Hugo finalists 2024 read-through.)
July 6, 2024
This story was simply adorable – if both realistic and a bit sad. And sad because it was realistic and realistic because sad. With just the right tinge of hope to lift it up at the end.
It’s also surprisingly SFnal for a situation that sits in the uncanny valley where what used to be SF has become the real. It feels like it’s part of the lab-based SF tradition but there’s no actual lab. Or we’re all the lab. Or a bit of both.
Let me explain – or at least try.
Better Living Through Algorithms is set either in the RIGHT NOW or at a point in time so close that it might as well be now. It doesn’t need any aliens or space ships and there’s no computer virus running amuck.
What there is is an app. Just like now. But the app isn’t exactly like any of the usual suspects – although it’s perfectly capable of seeming like any or all of them.
Abelique combines elements of a productivity app, and a time management app, and a health monitoring app, wraps the whole thing up in a self-reflective little bow and ties it off with a bit of mystery.
When Linnea first hears about Abelique from her early-adopter friends, it sounds like a cult and she’s NOT INTERESTED. When her boss pushes her to try it – at work – he makes it sound like a productivity app. He also makes it sound like she’d better just do it.
So she does – to the point of doing the long and somewhat intrusive setup on work time – because if her boss is making references to her last and next evaluations as he’s “encouraging” her, it is. But Linnea gets hooked on Abelique the minute that it tells her it will help her lie to her boss. Because that’s clearly not the hallmark of a productivity app. At all.
And she’s in.
Through Linnea’s adoption of Abelique we see the whole life cycle of a viral app, as well as more than a bit of the nitty-gritty about how that sausage gets made. Abelique structures her day and her time – but in really good ways. It encourages her to connect with both new people and old dreams. It keeps her from becoming a drone of a worker bee.
All of which happen because she lets it invade her privacy – all for her own good. Which it actually is. At least until the inevitable end of the life-cycle comes and she stops using Abelique, gives up all of those good habits and goes back to her old routine.
But something remains, not of Abelique but of the person she leaned into while she used it. And that gives the story a much-needed little uplift at the otherwise sad but expected ending.
Escape Rating B+: I really did love this – not because the AI behind Abelique knows better than we do – but because it knows exactly what we know and just don’t pay attention to. None of the things that Abelique asks – and it’s always an ask and not a demand – are news.
People are happier when they have fewer small decisions to make. People are happier when they get outside more. People are more productive when they get enough sleep. People do feel better when they have space for a bit of creativity in their lives. Etc., etc., etc.
Abelique just puts all of those things that are already known into a package that seems cool and goes viral – for a little while. Because viral apps are only viral for a little while. It can’t last because of other predictable bits of human behavior – but it is lovely while it does.
In the end, this is a bit of hopepunk, in that some of what Linnea learns while she’s participating in Abelique remains – and not just for her – even after the app’s inevitable ending.
This was a story that I enjoyed while I was listening to it, but it wasn’t terribly deep and left me more than a bit sad at the end. As much as I liked it while I was listening, it doesn’t overtake How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub on my Hugo ballot.
But reading it did leave me with a habit that I don’t plan on letting go of. I listened to this story from the Clarkesworld podcast reading. They read all the stories they publish in the magazine – as does Uncanny Magazine. I’ll definitely be looking for more of those podcasts, not just for the Hugo nominations, but for whenever I’m searching for excellent stories to listen to, even though there isn’t an app to tell me to.
Originally published at Reading Reality
It’s also surprisingly SFnal for a situation that sits in the uncanny valley where what used to be SF has become the real. It feels like it’s part of the lab-based SF tradition but there’s no actual lab. Or we’re all the lab. Or a bit of both.
Let me explain – or at least try.
Better Living Through Algorithms is set either in the RIGHT NOW or at a point in time so close that it might as well be now. It doesn’t need any aliens or space ships and there’s no computer virus running amuck.
What there is is an app. Just like now. But the app isn’t exactly like any of the usual suspects – although it’s perfectly capable of seeming like any or all of them.
Abelique combines elements of a productivity app, and a time management app, and a health monitoring app, wraps the whole thing up in a self-reflective little bow and ties it off with a bit of mystery.
When Linnea first hears about Abelique from her early-adopter friends, it sounds like a cult and she’s NOT INTERESTED. When her boss pushes her to try it – at work – he makes it sound like a productivity app. He also makes it sound like she’d better just do it.
So she does – to the point of doing the long and somewhat intrusive setup on work time – because if her boss is making references to her last and next evaluations as he’s “encouraging” her, it is. But Linnea gets hooked on Abelique the minute that it tells her it will help her lie to her boss. Because that’s clearly not the hallmark of a productivity app. At all.
And she’s in.
Through Linnea’s adoption of Abelique we see the whole life cycle of a viral app, as well as more than a bit of the nitty-gritty about how that sausage gets made. Abelique structures her day and her time – but in really good ways. It encourages her to connect with both new people and old dreams. It keeps her from becoming a drone of a worker bee.
All of which happen because she lets it invade her privacy – all for her own good. Which it actually is. At least until the inevitable end of the life-cycle comes and she stops using Abelique, gives up all of those good habits and goes back to her old routine.
But something remains, not of Abelique but of the person she leaned into while she used it. And that gives the story a much-needed little uplift at the otherwise sad but expected ending.
Escape Rating B+: I really did love this – not because the AI behind Abelique knows better than we do – but because it knows exactly what we know and just don’t pay attention to. None of the things that Abelique asks – and it’s always an ask and not a demand – are news.
People are happier when they have fewer small decisions to make. People are happier when they get outside more. People are more productive when they get enough sleep. People do feel better when they have space for a bit of creativity in their lives. Etc., etc., etc.
Abelique just puts all of those things that are already known into a package that seems cool and goes viral – for a little while. Because viral apps are only viral for a little while. It can’t last because of other predictable bits of human behavior – but it is lovely while it does.
In the end, this is a bit of hopepunk, in that some of what Linnea learns while she’s participating in Abelique remains – and not just for her – even after the app’s inevitable ending.
This was a story that I enjoyed while I was listening to it, but it wasn’t terribly deep and left me more than a bit sad at the end. As much as I liked it while I was listening, it doesn’t overtake How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub on my Hugo ballot.
But reading it did leave me with a habit that I don’t plan on letting go of. I listened to this story from the Clarkesworld podcast reading. They read all the stories they publish in the magazine – as does Uncanny Magazine. I’ll definitely be looking for more of those podcasts, not just for the Hugo nominations, but for whenever I’m searching for excellent stories to listen to, even though there isn’t an app to tell me to.
Originally published at Reading Reality
August 16, 2024
To say that I have been unconvinced by “Hugo Award winning” works of fiction in recent years is how I approached this short story. I have seen, quite honestly, too many works of fiction that have less than stellar GR community ratings. It makes me wonder who is the ‘judging body’ of the Hugo’s, and why is their judgement is frequently not in line with many thousands of community reviews, lol. I also really hope its not a marketing decision, rather than an assessment of quality.
So.. “Better Living Through Algorithm” seemed predictable from the first paragraph. 50% through it remained predictable. And then it happened. The “ah ah ah!! ” DiCaprio meme moment. The author mentions A.I.! You know when you’re watching a suspense TV show or movie, and the “hacker” is ‘hacking’ into some super secure system using only super fast 180wpm keyboard clicks and NO mouse movements? Anyone who has a little bit of computer knowledge knows that you cannot ‘hack’ anything without using a mouse and that the frenetic key typing is a cheat used by filmmakers to save time and create suspense. Well now, some authors (and filmmakers) are using A.I. to be the villain, or the scary unknown super powerful ‘character’ (I’m looking at you Tom Cruise). Problem is they don’t have a very good grasp of how Large Language Models or Deep Learning is utilized via datasets, etc. So A.I. shows up in this story, and I literally rolled my eyes.
But!.. The author uses it to send a simple message of living with purpose and with things that bring joy are to be valued highly. So because the A.I. cheat was used ‘for good’ I don’t feel as eyeroll-y when I finished the story. Was it the best short story of all the nominees? Seems like. Was it the best short story of the year.. no, but I don’t have the prestigious powers to choose the Hugo nominees 😂.
So.. “Better Living Through Algorithm” seemed predictable from the first paragraph. 50% through it remained predictable. And then it happened. The “ah ah ah!! ” DiCaprio meme moment. The author mentions A.I.! You know when you’re watching a suspense TV show or movie, and the “hacker” is ‘hacking’ into some super secure system using only super fast 180wpm keyboard clicks and NO mouse movements? Anyone who has a little bit of computer knowledge knows that you cannot ‘hack’ anything without using a mouse and that the frenetic key typing is a cheat used by filmmakers to save time and create suspense. Well now, some authors (and filmmakers) are using A.I. to be the villain, or the scary unknown super powerful ‘character’ (I’m looking at you Tom Cruise). Problem is they don’t have a very good grasp of how Large Language Models or Deep Learning is utilized via datasets, etc. So A.I. shows up in this story, and I literally rolled my eyes.
But!.. The author uses it to send a simple message of living with purpose and with things that bring joy are to be valued highly. So because the A.I. cheat was used ‘for good’ I don’t feel as eyeroll-y when I finished the story. Was it the best short story of all the nominees? Seems like. Was it the best short story of the year.. no, but I don’t have the prestigious powers to choose the Hugo nominees 😂.
September 19, 2025
//June was the first of my friends to get into it. This isn’t surprising—she was playing Wordle for weeks before Margo or I discovered it. When we met up for our weekly lunch, she kept checking her phone and I assumed it was some new game. Then she put it down with a smile and said, “Abelique told me not to pick up my phone again until after lunch was over.”
“Who?” Margo said.
“It’s this new app for better living.”//
Abelique is the hot new app in town- not a productivity app, though managers ask their team members to install it- but a wellness app. An app where a human voice calls you in the morning reminding you to wake up, make yourself coffee, pull back the curtains to enjoy a sunny day, and to make a picture of a dragon. During the 30-day trial period, she starts eating healthier meals, spending more time outdoors, doing things that give her joy, and even going home early instead of hanging around in office.
But who is behind the app? Why is so much information being gathered? And will the connections made at the behest of the app survive the lifetime of the app?
People like me are cautious about using AI, but this short story gave home. Technology is only as good or bad as the people using it. Maybe, in the right hands, it could become an audacious experiment in human happiness too.
I read this story as a part of an AI Reading Circle, and you can read the full story for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
“Who?” Margo said.
“It’s this new app for better living.”//
Abelique is the hot new app in town- not a productivity app, though managers ask their team members to install it- but a wellness app. An app where a human voice calls you in the morning reminding you to wake up, make yourself coffee, pull back the curtains to enjoy a sunny day, and to make a picture of a dragon. During the 30-day trial period, she starts eating healthier meals, spending more time outdoors, doing things that give her joy, and even going home early instead of hanging around in office.
But who is behind the app? Why is so much information being gathered? And will the connections made at the behest of the app survive the lifetime of the app?
People like me are cautious about using AI, but this short story gave home. Technology is only as good or bad as the people using it. Maybe, in the right hands, it could become an audacious experiment in human happiness too.
I read this story as a part of an AI Reading Circle, and you can read the full story for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
February 10, 2025
(Again, trying to write a review in the style of the book I read!)
I wasn't too keen on reading Kritzer's "Better Living Through Algorithms." I had better things to do – like study for one of my three upcoming midterms, respond to the pile of emails in my inbox, or pretend like I didn't need to get a job. Maybe it was self-imposed peer pressure, but when I saw it won the Hugo Award I figured I might as well try. Initially, I was wary of the plot: do we really need another social media takeover dystopia? I don't fancy escaping to the world I live in. But somehow, I seemed to enjoy it? It was a refreshing take on technology and our relationship to happiness. Kritzer reframes the idea of happiness, not in a weird philosophical way, rather, she makes us pause and question what we have built around us. I found the story presents a unique take on the argument of happiness, one that forces us to question rather than reflect.
So was it worth it? Well, let's just say I'm going to be logging off social media. Just for a little while.
I wasn't too keen on reading Kritzer's "Better Living Through Algorithms." I had better things to do – like study for one of my three upcoming midterms, respond to the pile of emails in my inbox, or pretend like I didn't need to get a job. Maybe it was self-imposed peer pressure, but when I saw it won the Hugo Award I figured I might as well try. Initially, I was wary of the plot: do we really need another social media takeover dystopia? I don't fancy escaping to the world I live in. But somehow, I seemed to enjoy it? It was a refreshing take on technology and our relationship to happiness. Kritzer reframes the idea of happiness, not in a weird philosophical way, rather, she makes us pause and question what we have built around us. I found the story presents a unique take on the argument of happiness, one that forces us to question rather than reflect.
So was it worth it? Well, let's just say I'm going to be logging off social media. Just for a little while.
August 12, 2024
You know, putting aside the fact that this just won the Hugo for best short story in '24, if someone had told me I had to read this, and insisted, perhaps with a gun to my head, that I would love it, forcing me to read it, I probably would have come out of the experience in something much more than shock.
Not only would I turn on that person who had put a gun to my head, I'd probably give them a hug, thanking them for the abuse.
Why? Because the story was just that touching.
Being socially sequestered, a bit of a loser, myself, I found a lot of things in this short story just -- delightful. Did I want something like this? Yes. All parts of it, up to the point where the expiration date hit? Yes.
I mean, damn. This is the flip side of everything we've got. The UPside. And this is what we should be striving for. All of us.
Beautiful. Totally beautiful.
Not only would I turn on that person who had put a gun to my head, I'd probably give them a hug, thanking them for the abuse.
Why? Because the story was just that touching.
Being socially sequestered, a bit of a loser, myself, I found a lot of things in this short story just -- delightful. Did I want something like this? Yes. All parts of it, up to the point where the expiration date hit? Yes.
I mean, damn. This is the flip side of everything we've got. The UPside. And this is what we should be striving for. All of us.
Beautiful. Totally beautiful.
October 16, 2024
Номинант Nebula'2023 и лауреат Hugo'2024. Суперский рассказ о чудо-приложении, которое делает жизнь людей лучше, давая точечные советы типа когда лечь спать, когда проснуться, что приготовить на ужин, какое посмотреть кино, что надеть, чем заняться в свободное время. И вот люди гадают — что это такое, какая-то новая зловещая секта или мошенническая схема или что?
Рассказ совсем короткий, я почти уложился в утреннюю поездку на автобусе. Написан увлекательно, довольно остроумно и простым языком, без ненужных миру книжных слов. Самое главное — вот он лежит в открытом доступе, ничего искать и качать не надо. Первая половина лучше, чем вторая, но мне всё равно очень понравилось, рекомендую.
Рассказ совсем короткий, я почти уложился в утреннюю поездку на автобусе. Написан увлекательно, довольно остроумно и простым языком, без ненужных миру книжных слов. Самое главное — вот он лежит в открытом доступе, ничего искать и качать не надо. Первая половина лучше, чем вторая, но мне всё равно очень понравилось, рекомендую.
November 4, 2025
Man, what a great short story! I was on a roller coaster of thought the entire time:
Oooh, Ablelique, I'd definitely avoid that like the plague
Hmmm, this app really is simplifying and doing some interesting things.
Geez, I'd really like an app to make all the mundane decisions for me some days.
Ok, this is getting a bit creepy and intrusive.
Ah hell, here comes the disinformation campaign.
Damnit, humans suck, why do they have to ruin everything that starts out good.
I did find it interesting in how as soon as it was exposed to be AI, the perspective of it changed by most users and those outside of the app community too.
My biggest takeaway from the story was basically, stop making excuses, start making progress; and find your community.
January 1, 2025
Ironically, this may have been the perfect first thing to read this year. What the story describes is, of course, exactly what I want (without the forced wakeup times). I have excel spreadsheets listing the things I want to do every day, and how much time everything takes, and the books I'm working on reading, and my budget, and my daily schedule...and I just want a better community.
I want everything to be easier. I want to be able to delete Instagram from my phone because I live close to my friends, instead of that being the only way to stay in touch with my friends. I want life to be less difficult.
I want everything to be easier. I want to be able to delete Instagram from my phone because I live close to my friends, instead of that being the only way to stay in touch with my friends. I want life to be less difficult.
November 17, 2024
I read this story online because I’d heard she won 2 Hugo’s in 2024. One for Better Living Through Algorithms and one for The Year Without Sunshine. I highly recommend both. Naomi is an important and succinct writer for modern prose. Not exactly the economy of Hemingway, but close. She is definitely a writer to keep checking on periodically, like Hugh Howey or Andy Weir.
Better Living Through Algorithms
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
The Year Without Sunshine
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/artic...
Better Living Through Algorithms
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
The Year Without Sunshine
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/artic...
September 4, 2024
Ganadora del hugo award 2024 por mejor short story, es una historia totalmente disfrutable que no es una distopia o un cuento con terror existencial o con angustia como casi todos lo son, o quizas si tiene estos elementos, pero son opacados por el sentido de esperanza en lo humano que transmite, es un llamado a la acción, definitivamente vale la pena leerlo.
7.9
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
7.9
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
March 19, 2025
It’s funny how I spent most of the story curious about how the app was going to be evil and in the end it turns out that like all good things it couldn’t last. “Every online community has an expiration date”. I ended up feeling sad as much as anything, the narrator had a moment of a better life, and like most good things it didn’t last. The story left me wanting more, but I think that’s the hallmark of a good short story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2024
Hugo award winner for best short story. Can be found here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/krit...
Great little story… pulls you in, makes you happy… super quick read but interesting, about an app that is Siri to the next level, that three friends argue about using but end up using, and what all it does.
Great little story… pulls you in, makes you happy… super quick read but interesting, about an app that is Siri to the next level, that three friends argue about using but end up using, and what all it does.
July 10, 2025
The story was an interesting read, being set in the near future. But even then, I fail to appreciate and enjoy this work as a science fiction, especially one that won the Hugo Awards. It feels much too grounded in reality, missing the speculation and imagination that makes science fiction interesting.
January 4, 2026
What a fantastic fantastic story this is! Have listened to the audio version from Clarkesworld Magazine which is just 35 mins. Great narration!
Just realized that most of my views on future are dystopian, pessimistic in the name of realism. But, this story painted the positive side of the same world - where algorithms help us to live a better life.
Just realized that most of my views on future are dystopian, pessimistic in the name of realism. But, this story painted the positive side of the same world - where algorithms help us to live a better life.
July 3, 2024
Read for 2024 Hugos
An amazing piece of hopepunk, and how I really want things to turn out in our future. Go on, read it. You'll like it. Maybe try drawing or reading too. Welcome to the community.
An amazing piece of hopepunk, and how I really want things to turn out in our future. Go on, read it. You'll like it. Maybe try drawing or reading too. Welcome to the community.
July 4, 2024
This one definitely has shades of Cat Pictures Please to it.
July 10, 2024
Naomi Kritzer explains why you do not 'really' need an app (or any other product) to make you happy.
Communities help. And finding things that give you enjoyment. As distinct from those that you feel that you must do.
A finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
Communities help. And finding things that give you enjoyment. As distinct from those that you feel that you must do.
A finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
July 14, 2024
A nice short story about how apps can influence our lives, that then gets turned on its head and becomes a scathing critique of capitalism. This story didn't go where I expected it to, but in a good way. Still, I have a few too many questions after that ending.
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