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jacqw8's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this story so much more than I thought I would. The creation of digients brings up great questions about the sentience and consciousness of digital beings, which is something we may have to ponder in the near future. I liked the world building and how casually he writes these different pieces of technology that differ from our world.
lucybreit's review against another edition
3.5
Alarming that the main AI has the same name as my first pet. Also alarming the things that are being said about asexuality here like I know that’s not what you meant Mr. Chiang but the phrasing could have been better
inso's review
3.0
Carina l'idea delle IA da allevare come se fossero cuccioli (o bambini), e anche la possibile doppia chiave di lettura per chi nella vita sviluppa software: l'affetto per la propria "creatura", il problema dell'adattamento alle nuove piattaforme, il dispiacere per l'obsolescenza... c'è tutto.
Peccato che oltre all'idea ci sia poco altro: i protagonisti umani sono piatti, e le IA deludenti. Siamo lontani dalla perversa complessità di Invernomuto o dall'ironia dell'Hendrix di Altered Carbon, dalle quali probabilmente Chiang ha voluto discostarsi. Le IA di questo libro sono infantili, indifese, e nella storia hanno un altro scopo: affermare il diritto all'esistenza di forme di "vita cosciente" nuove e diverse. Ma secondo me il tema, da questo punto di vista, è affrontato in modo superficiale.
Anche lo stile "telecronistico" della narrazione di Chiang mi ha un po' annoiato dopo i primi capitoli.
Peccato che oltre all'idea ci sia poco altro: i protagonisti umani sono piatti, e le IA deludenti. Siamo lontani dalla perversa complessità di Invernomuto o dall'ironia dell'Hendrix di Altered Carbon, dalle quali probabilmente Chiang ha voluto discostarsi. Le IA di questo libro sono infantili, indifese, e nella storia hanno un altro scopo: affermare il diritto all'esistenza di forme di "vita cosciente" nuove e diverse. Ma secondo me il tema, da questo punto di vista, è affrontato in modo superficiale.
Anche lo stile "telecronistico" della narrazione di Chiang mi ha un po' annoiato dopo i primi capitoli.
11corvus11's review against another edition
5.0
On of the best artificial intelligence stories ever crafted. Extremely creative with a very dedicated and well fleshed out execution. Tackles all of the AI themes you usually see while also inserting very real people, other animals, and dillemas of time. That is, it actually takes a look at evolution of AI life forms over time within the realm of human interactions with AI and with each other, late stage capitalism, increasing automation, rapid obsolescence of technologies, social and sexual consent, and many others. This is included in Chiang's collection "Exhalation: Stories" as well.
waqasmhd's review against another edition
4.0
amazing. don’t be fooled by the title. it’s a pure fiction or specifically a science fiction. but i feel it’s not far from becoming a reality. get what i mean? with the rise of web3 and metaverse the depiction of virtual animals/pets (called digients) in this book makes sense and the virtual world building in this book has already started in our real lives as well. many companies are aiming users to join their “virtual world”.
ted chiang has written it beautifully. i was never bored, only intrigued to know how things will progress both for the humans and digients. it’s actually metaverse and evolution of AI in virtual characters. how serious people will take virtual beings and their attachment with digients. it could be an eye opener to where we are headed.
first time reading ted and i’m impressed. currently reading his collection of short stories “exhalation” and i’m hooked on that as well.
ted chiang has written it beautifully. i was never bored, only intrigued to know how things will progress both for the humans and digients. it’s actually metaverse and evolution of AI in virtual characters. how serious people will take virtual beings and their attachment with digients. it could be an eye opener to where we are headed.
first time reading ted and i’m impressed. currently reading his collection of short stories “exhalation” and i’m hooked on that as well.
m_zaccarian's review against another edition
3.0
Feels like eating cucumber rolls
I read this book for my "Forms of Reading and Writing" class and was very surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
I must admit that the time pressure under which I had to read it took away from the enjoyment, but overall it's so well written and flows pretty smoothly. It lost me a bit at the technical/technological aspects, but intrigued me with the social and sexual discussion. I'd recommend it.
I read this book for my "Forms of Reading and Writing" class and was very surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
I must admit that the time pressure under which I had to read it took away from the enjoyment, but overall it's so well written and flows pretty smoothly. It lost me a bit at the technical/technological aspects, but intrigued me with the social and sexual discussion. I'd recommend it.
_ash0_'s review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
Hugo award winner
This was a story about some AI engineers who design software objects that can live and thrive inside a virtual world. Humans can own these “digients” as pets and train them as one would train a dog or a cat. The story revolves around two main protagonists who love their digients and are trying to protect them. The company goes broke after people lose interest in these digients and some people even find them boring, but there is a group of people who are trying to port their digients to a new platform. If this were my first story by Ted Chiang that I had read, I would have given it 5 stars maybe but since I loved his other stories more, I had to reduce the stars on this one. There were many ideas and discussions about mistreating animals and software objects and anthropomorphism in this story.
Supposedly this is the longest story by this author.
Hugo award winner
This was a story about some AI engineers who design software objects that can live and thrive inside a virtual world. Humans can own these “digients” as pets and train them as one would train a dog or a cat. The story revolves around two main protagonists who love their digients and are trying to protect them. The company goes broke after people lose interest in these digients and some people even find them boring, but there is a group of people who are trying to port their digients to a new platform. If this were my first story by Ted Chiang that I had read, I would have given it 5 stars maybe but since I loved his other stories more, I had to reduce the stars on this one. There were many ideas and discussions about mistreating animals and software objects and anthropomorphism in this story.
Supposedly this is the longest story by this author.
svenpdb's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
tocy777's review against another edition
3.0
Well it was alright, some clever ideas and a bunch of interesting questions were thrown at me, slightly reminded me of the book 'Ready Player One' and the animation 'Summer Wars' maybe it was me but I was expecting a twist in the story, so the end like this felt a little bit abrupt and the story was getting weirder towards the end.
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
Ted Chiang is not a great writer, but a great thinker and a serviceable storyteller. I didn't enjoy this as much as the collection of short stories I read, but it was a very interesting exploration of the meaning of artificial intelligence and its potential ramifications.