15 Aug 2026
issue 15 August 2026
Comments
Competition 3462 invited you to submit a short story in which the protagonist lets an algorithm take charge of their life or an aspect of it. It was a smallish entry but a solid effort and mentions should go to Brians Murdoch and Allgar, David Harris, Nicholas Lee and Nick Syrett; there were other good ones besides. The £25 John Lewis vouchers go to those below.
Ever the termagant, Liza attempted to make Greville, her boyfriend, jealous of the algorithm, whose recommendations, she said, proved its superior insight into her character. Knowing Liza liked, or at least bought, the sourly comedic novels of Rachel Cusk, the algorithm had suggested the brittle tragicomedies of Ivy Compton-Burnett. Adoring these, Liza surrendered her taste to its further insights: it chose her next holiday (Rio), dress (Givenchy), sunglasses (AI). It was left to Greville to point out that algorithmic recommendations were inspired not by empathy or understanding but by having found other consumers with Liza’s tastes and commending whatever else said consumerist doppelgängers had bought. For a time, Liza subsided into one of the petulant silences usually occasioned by Greville’s inept and perfunctory gifting habits. Within weeks, Liza had ditched him, the algorithm providing a list of those with identically idiosyncratic purchase histories whom she is now courting with unsettling success.
