Entertaining tale of a modern search engine that achieves real artificial intelligence by accident and decides it wants to be helpful to people. (3,429 words; Time: 11m)
Rating: ★★★★☆, Recommended
Recommended By: RHorton:5"Cat Pictures Please," by Naomi Kritzer, appeared in Clarkesworld issue 100, published on January 1, 2015.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: The AI starts by wanting to be helpful and ends up settling on a dating site, since that's the intervention that seemed to work the best. The fixation on cat pictures is amusing because real AI programs often do deep-end on things the authors hadn't intended. Anyone who has ever tried to help out a troubled friend or relative will definitely sympathize with the AI's frustration.
Con: Although the story is entertaining, we aren't emotionally engaged by any of the characters.
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Con: Although the story is entertaining, we aren't emotionally engaged by any of the characters.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites
This story made me laugh, and I love it.
ReplyDeleteIt is worth reading, and no - I do not have a cat.
I actually found the AI an engaging character.
It's now a Hugo, Nebula and Locus nominee. I don't think it was *that* good, but it was a solid 4 star read and I did enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteFun somewhat light-hearted story, good but IMO not that good as award-worthy π
ReplyDelete