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The Lifecycle of Software Objects

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 1,095 ratings · 186 reviews

What's the best way to create artificial intelligence? In 1950, Alan Turing wrote, "Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English. This process could follow the normal...more

Hardcover, 150 pages

Published July 31st 2010 by Subterranean Press

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Dec 02, 2010 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: ash ketchum

Recommended to Joel by: subterranean press

Shelves: 2010, 52-in-2010, library-books, novella, sci-fi-fantasy

Remember virtual pets? Those little electronic animals that lived in keychains, and you had to feed them and clean up their poop

and they were really neat for about two weeks, before everyone* realized that pressing buttons to pretend to feed and play with something is totally boring?

*except Japanese people, who apparently still buy them in great numbers, but when it comes to adorable tchotchkes, they're always outliers anyway.

Ted Chiang's novella The Lifecycle of Software Objects will very like...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Eh?Eh!

Shelves: 2011, fantasy-sci-fi, reviewed, talk-nerdy-to-me

This felt a lot like work. Not just reading the book, that felt like reading a management book from the Arbinger Institute, but also the ideas, the terminology, all of it felt like being at work or thinking about work. For example, Chiang discusses heuristics at one point. Part of me is purring: talk nerdy to me, baby. The other part though - I'm wondering when it will be over. I've already spent all day with this stuff; it's not what I want to do in my free time.

The book is called The Lifecycle ...more This felt a lot like work. Not just reading the book, that felt like reading a management book from the Arbinger Institute, but also the ideas, the terminology, all of it felt like being at work or thinking about work. For example, Chiang discusses heuristics at one point. Part of me is purring: talk nerdy to me, baby. The other part though - I'm wondering when it will be over. I've already spent all day with this stuff; it's not what I want to do in my free time.

The book is called The Lifecycle of Software Objects for a reason. The interesting speculation about a new AI didn't really last as long as the descriptions of the cycle of, well, software objects. That the software object in question was a being that could think for itself instead of, say, Internet Explorer 7, felt secondary to me. No one, and I mean no one is mourning the obsolescence of that browser. Ask any web designer about having to make the site work (and particularly perform) on that platform because companies are often too lazy, miserly, or terrified to give it up. I promise you, all you will get is cursing.

But, imagine if IE7 had an adorable and expressive face on it (and you could do lewd sexual things with it), that has learned to read, and maybe even (view spoiler). That's this book. If you want to read about that, sure, fine, go for it, (and I even think you'll enjoy it) but remember it's still IE7. Is the difference between the cute-thinking object and IE7 significant enough that we no right to program it if it's the former but we do with the latter? Is every interaction a form of manipulation with AI? If so, is it the same with children? What about your cat?

Interesting questions, right? Sure, in a way, but not really for me. I'm not there yet. This is probably where I fail as a true geek. I still live in a world where I'm trying to convince software users that they cannot hurt the program, they cannot break it, and it does not hate them. It can do exactly what they tell it to do and they, the users, may make a mistake, tell it to do the wrong thing (and then they will have shipped five hundred packs of "Santa" Coke of Tel Aviv instead of Wichita) but the program didn't do it maliciously. The only thing that might be malicious about it was the programmer who wrote it. So I guess I just didn't have a lot of sympathy for the questions being asked and the plight of the poor cute-looking software objects. I was wondering more about why the book read like a value proposition (aha, the author is a technical writer) and why we were discussing quality assurance techniques (which I felt were rather slap-dash, by the way). That started me thinking about how they might be documenting their test cases. Then I wondered if, when writing AI programs, would you also write automated testing suites that expanded along with the AI program (basically AI QA) and, of course, you'd have to do that, and then how would you QA those processes? It seemed like a former animal trainer probably wasn't the ideal candidate for that; just FYI, Mr. Chiang. Something more was definitely needed. At that point, I almost went to my computer and started a search on QA techniques for AI.

That was also the point I decided to just relax a little and consider reading something else until work (real work) wasn't going to smack right into this text every time I looked at it. It still ended up feeling like the type of story you read for a leadership class and must come prepared for discussion about the ethical dilemma posed in it. But I liked this line:

You can't assemble an equivalent collection of heuristics in less time; experience is algorithmically incompressible.

I think Mr. Chiang should quit his day job and take a creative writing class or sit in a bookstore with a cafe and drink caffeinated drinks and write a lot of stuff that isn't related to computers. I think his future stories will be better for it. I can tell he's got a beautiful, logical, sexy brain in there, with some brilliant ideas in it; he just needs to shake up his prose, with a little bit of freedom and creativity and fun. I hope he does, soon. (less)

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Apr 28, 2013 Apatt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another home run from Ted Chiang. Almost long enough to be a novel, this is a story about AI, "sentient software", virtual creatures and our responsibility toward them. The idea is that if we are going to play gods and create sentient beings (even virtual ones) we have a moral obligation to ensure the safety and well being of the creatures we create. That they are not flesh and blood is immaterial.

The theme of responsibility for AI entities we created remind me of the "dust theory" in Permutatio ...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Laurel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow - I would never have seen such a touching ending coming, from a very sci fi topic. But, that's the beauty of sci fi. A story that is able to turn a mirror on our own culture, through a fantastical concept.

On a personal note, the book beautifully demonstrates the reason why novellas are so powerful. I know that many want Chiang to transition to a longer form, but if this novella had been expanded into a novel, it would have lost its potency.

I hesitate to say more, because I think the journe...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people interested in AI, disability, minds

Chiang's written some of the best science-fiction short stories of the last fifteen years. But his high-concept and hard-science riffs avoid the gee-whiz and the jaded snarl, instead finding a melancholic chord underlying the genre. His stories repeatedly return to loss. Each new tech (or fantastic conceit) reengages problems we can never escape: death, self, soul, mind, others.

Here we track the design--and then, over a fast-track passage of years, the development--of digital organisms (digients...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Ben Babcock rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: via-io9, 2011-read, artificial-intelligence, science-fiction, nebula-nominee, owned, hugo-winner

Anyone else remember Creatures? I played that game when I was younger … I might still have it around somewhere in a closet. Hmm, maybe I should dig it out. Because The Lifecycle of Software Objects reminded me of Creatures (albeit without the breeding). The digients in Ted Chiang's novella are artificially-intelligent software programs who begin as a genome created by software developers. The genome is just a starting place, however, and more complex traits emerge as the digients learn from huma...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nov-dec-2010

Ted Chiang has made his bones in SF as a master of the short story, so a much longer work than is customary comes as a surprise. "The typical science-fiction depiction of AI is this loyal, obedient butler; you simply flip a switch, turn it on and it's ready to do your bidding. I feel like there's a huge story being glossed over," Chiang tells Boing Boing about the genesis of The Lifecycle of Software Objects. To be sure, the ethical issues that he raises and the depth of the technology (even for...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Are you familiar with the Turing Test? Alan Turing posed a question in the 1950′s, pondering whether or not machines could think. To answer that question, he devised a test where a human judge would interrogate both man and machine and receive written answers to his questions. If the judge is unable to tell the man from the machine, the machine has passed the test.

The Turing test is one of the primary themes of The Lifecycle of Software Objects. Chiang’s title, in programming jargon, speaks to t...more Are you familiar with the Turing Test? Alan Turing posed a question in the 1950′s, pondering whether or not machines could think. To answer that question, he devised a test where a human judge would interrogate both man and machine and receive written answers to his questions. If the judge is unable to tell the man from the machine, the machine has passed the test.

The Turing test is one of the primary themes of The Lifecycle of Software Objects. Chiang’s title, in programming jargon, speaks to the typical process a piece of software goes through. When software is designed, it typically goes through alpha and beta testing, is released to the general public, goes through a series of updates, and eventually reaches a point where it is no longer sold or supported. This does not mean it dies — users may continue to run the software as long as it is useful.

This is the case with Chiang’s protagonists. Ana Alvarado, a zoologist, is hired by a company to train digients. In an artificial world, (a glamorized version of Second Life) a rudimentary form of artificial intelligence known as digients have been created to serve as virtual pets. They are sentient software beings and Ana begins to train them as they progress in human speech and self awareness. She grows fond of the pets and as their life cycle runs out, she and a coworker named Derek continue to care for a few of these pets when technology has surpassed them.

To describe the plot any further is to do this novella injustice. It is not a plot-driven story. In fact, it is not a character-driven story either. The Lifecycle of Software Objects is a high-concept novella, exploring the themes of artificial intelligence and what designates a person (natural or artificial) worthy of rights. Chiang’s examination of the software objects parallel many moral dilemmas that face humanity — AI software copying (cloning), AI virtual sex (prostitution), and virtual violence (poignant to today’s blood-thirsty culture portrayed in television and video games).

I have read all but one of Ted Chiang’s short stories and this is his longest (~30k words), but also his most disappointing. Chiang’s prose and structure approaches the greatness of Gene Wolfe at times, but in this novella it falls flat. I am sure this is intentional — the short sentences and simplistic style is reminiscent of the languages of programming, toddler-speak, and the texting age. But even putting aside my stylistic quibbles, the protagonists came across as rather uninteresting. At one point, Ana gets married, to the devastation of Derek who had been pining after her, despite the fact that he himself was married. We learn next to nothing about their spouses or really anything about them outside of their relationships with their virtual pets. Removing this context leaves the characters somewhat one-dimensional, merely there to drive the story forward.

The Lifecycle of Software Objects is told in a series of vignettes. The short narratives walk us through the various stages that the digients go through. The shifts forward through time are somewhat jarring and the need to invent new software terms with each new generation made it feel at times I was reading a software manual.

Bear in mind, my negative comments are made in reaction to the extremely high bar I hold for Ted Chiang. He is one of the most talented short story authors in genre fiction today and his writing is always purposeful and cerebral. There are many what if scenarios that play out over the course of the novella that left me contemplating the nature of artificial intelligence and how humanity would react to having such technology. In answering these thoughts, Chiang has succeeded on a high level.

I would call the experience of reading The Lifecycle of Software Objects akin to reading Issac Asimov’s I, Robot stories. It is ripe with philosophy and science fiction that will appeal to the hearts of Asimov fans. For those looking for the rich prose and the elegant stories that I have grown accustomed to with Chiang, I would recommend stories such as Story of Your Life, The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, or Exhalation.(less)

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Oct 29, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-sf-fantasy

I liked this novella almost the whole way through. It takes place in the near future, when software companies are creating "digients," or digital life forms. The novella asks a lot of really interesting questions: how are digital life forms different from biological ones? What sorts of relationships should people have with digients? What sort of feelings and thought processes would the digients themselves be capable of? And, having created these life forms, what would are responsibilities to the...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Kara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Three and a half stars.

This little novella has a title like an essay. The Lifecycle of Software Objects just sounds like a treatise on technological obsolescence, and in a way, that's exactly what this was.

This little book is about digients--sentient software that reside in a virtual world. They're cute animals and robots, and they can speak and learn. It starts out like any story of new technology: there's a boom. Digients become the trendy thing, and everyone wants their own digital pet. This...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Luke rated it 3 of 5 stars

PLOT: Ana Alvarado is a zoologist who gets hired by a company to train "digients": conscious, non-embodied AIs that resemble supercharged Kinectimals inside a SecondLife-like virtual world called Data Earth. The story tracks the evolution of the pets as they are constrained by the financial and personal tribulations of the devoted humans who are their caretakers who teach them as if they were children. There's a male lead (Derek, maybe?) who pines after Ana. They share a deep bond over their dig...more

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May 30, 2012 Aaron Arnold rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, read-in-2012

It's extremely common for fans of science fiction to describe the genre as being about "exploring what it means to be human". This is both a prestige move, to try and raise it to the level of Real Books where Real Stuff happens; and a tactical move, to separate it from the greasy wastes of fantasy with its endless repetitions of elves and chainmail bikinis. This book isn't the pinnacle of sci-fi or anything, and in fact I'm pretty sure several authors have neatly tucked its insights into their w...more It's extremely common for fans of science fiction to describe the genre as being about "exploring what it means to be human". This is both a prestige move, to try and raise it to the level of Real Books where Real Stuff happens; and a tactical move, to separate it from the greasy wastes of fantasy with its endless repetitions of elves and chainmail bikinis. This book isn't the pinnacle of sci-fi or anything, and in fact I'm pretty sure several authors have neatly tucked its insights into their works before, but its fits right into that description of sci-fi and is actually fairly well-written. It's about two people, Ana and Derek, who get involved in the creation and use of digients, which are essentially sentient Tamagotchis for people who want alternatives to pets or children. They develop attachments to their digients, but when the company that makes them goes out of business and there's not enough money to port them to a new virtual environment, they have to cope with how the digients will fit into their lives as they try to get the money to pay for the port. It's basically a parable about how parents relate to their children, how do you deal with them growing up and having their own lives, how do you make time for them, etc. I have to say that this world is disturbingly possible, and I can easily see people getting extremely attached to software objects in lieu of having real children, getting caught up in this world where virtual relationships are more important than real ones. A large part of modern innovation consists of tricking existing human instincts to get people to buy things or do things they wouldn't otherwise do, and sometimes I feel like the generation that perfects virtual reality will be the last one, since it's so addictive and can offer plausible substitutes for reality that are far more sophisticated than most of what previous generations could ever dream of (at least outside of narcotics). The smooth, transparent writing style helped make the story even more plausible, so if you are more pro-Internet than I am you'll probably like it even more. The book was short but sweet, and won the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Novella.(less)

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May 03, 2012 Suhrob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Zawinski's Law of Software Envelopment says: Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.

(I love Emacs!)

As a kid I wasn't really a huge fan of sci-fi, because I usually quickly got annoyed when I saw the author not really understanding the "sci" part of the deal (the most obvious example being the infamous "it took them XY light years to get there". Not on one occasion did I stop immediately reading a book after a...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Francesca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-science-fiction

Romanzo breve davvero interessante, che attraverso la storia di Ana e il suo rapporto – lavorativo e personale – con i digienti offre ragguardevoli spunti di analisi, in particolare sulla relazione con le (future) Intelligenze Artificiali.

A fronte dello spessore concettuale del testo, personalmente non mi ha entusiasmato troppo lo stile. Molto lineare e chiaro, sì, forse troppo uniforme. Avrei preferito una narrazione più partecipata in alcuni passaggi, meno melliflua in altri.
Tuttavia, questo n...more Romanzo breve davvero interessante, che attraverso la storia di Ana e il suo rapporto – lavorativo e personale – con i digienti offre ragguardevoli spunti di analisi, in particolare sulla relazione con le (future) Intelligenze Artificiali.

A fronte dello spessore concettuale del testo, personalmente non mi ha entusiasmato troppo lo stile. Molto lineare e chiaro, sì, forse troppo uniforme. Avrei preferito una narrazione più partecipata in alcuni passaggi, meno melliflua in altri.
Tuttavia, questo non fa perdere pregevolezza all’opera nel suo complesso.

In primo piano l’autore pone la questione di quello che potrebbe essere il rapporto tra uomo e IA, quali livelli di profondità, “umanità” potrebbe raggiungere.
Addirittura, le IA stesse potrebbero diventare un soggetto legalmente riconosciuto, una volta definite le loro caratteristiche e capacità, ma soprattutto la loro autonomia.
Se, tuttavia, i digienti di Chiang hanno ancora una patina “artificiale” (forse anche per non mettere in discussione la teoria dell’uncanny valley), la controversia sarebbe davvero complessa nel caso di una IA altamente evoluta e antropomorfizzata: fino a che punto potrebbe essere equiparata agli esseri viventi, all’uomo nello specifico? Esiste un limite di emozioni da non oltrepassare nei confronti di una IA? Se essa fosse programmata per provare sentimenti pressoché indistinguibili da quelli umani, dovrebbe essere considerata sempre alla stregua di un oggetto, un qualcosa di innaturale, oppure sarebbe necessaria una completa rivoluzione del paradigma dei valori e dei riferimenti umani?
Credo che lo splendido film A.I. di Steven Spielberg, pur in maniera diversa da questo romanzo, abbia anticipato domande assai simili (e forse ha sotteso anche qualche possibile risposta).

Accanto a questa tematiche fondamentale, la lettura di Chiang sfiora altri basilari argomenti, quali la responsabilità, l’educazione, il valore dell’esperienza.
Il tema della responsabilità è suggerito dalla cura che i digienti richiedono e che non tutti sono disposti dedicare loro, relegandoli, una volta stufati del nuovo gioco, in un angolo, spenti. Purtroppo, comportamento tipicamente umano che, finita l’adrenalina della novità, non discerne quale possa essere davvero un passatempo da confinare nell’oblio o una responsabilità (scelta, oltretutto) che necessita di cura e accortezza costanti, restituendo doni e gratificazioni con l’impegno nel lungo periodo.
Il valore dell’esperienza diretta, sofferta, dei traguardi conquistati, sono ben esemplificati dalla frase: “Ogni qualità che rende una persona più preziosa di un database è il prodotto dell’esperienza.”
Strettamente legato è il tema dell’educazione, con richiami che potrebbero risalire fino a J.J. Rousseau, sui diversi possibili metodi di formazione e crescita del singolo (inerenti all’ambiente sociale, le relazioni, la libertà individuale, i valori trasmessi).

Da ultimo, il potenziale nesso IA-uomo mi ha fatto considerare come una reale valutazione del rapporto dell’essere umano con il virtuale/artificiale, dal punto di vista etico, psicologico e filosofico (passatemi i termini da prendere in senso lato e con le pinze), sia parecchio ancora immatura.
Ad oggi, c’è stata una progressiva tendenza a trasformare l’essere umano in oggetto, un prodotto seriale; la persona rischia spesso di non essere considerata nel suo complesso in quanto tale (basti pensare ai lati peggiori dell’interazione tramite internet, ad esempio), bensì un involucro o una maschera virtuale − tendenza tuttavia spesso presente o latente anche nel quotidiano, ormai.
Credo che la strada in questa direzione sia ancora molta, forse si è appena all’inizio. Se dal punto di vista tecnologico i progressi sono e continuano ad essere enormi, costanti, il divario con la riflessione “morale/filosofica” che tutti i cambiamenti miranti alla singolarità e al postumano cagionano, è a dir poco abissale e non affrontata.
C’è da discutere, da analizzare e ponderare seriamente quale possa essere il ruolo e il significato dell’uomo nel mondo futuro, nei suoi molteplici aspetti e rapporti con la tecnologia (esterna o innestata, per fare un banale esempio), prima di rischiare un’anarchia etica o un totale smarrimento di senso dell’Essere.
(less)

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Dec 11, 2011 Phillip Berrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story is a thinly-veiled description of a possible development of general artificial intelligence through the rearing of virtual creatures by human parents/carers. It makes some human-centric assumptions about what form such a general intelligence would take that would make a good area of discussion, but these assumptions work from a story telling point of view because they make the non-human characters likeable/understandable to the reader.

Pros: I thought the book ended to soon (i.e. it is...more This story is a thinly-veiled description of a possible development of general artificial intelligence through the rearing of virtual creatures by human parents/carers. It makes some human-centric assumptions about what form such a general intelligence would take that would make a good area of discussion, but these assumptions work from a story telling point of view because they make the non-human characters likeable/understandable to the reader.

Pros: I thought the book ended to soon (i.e. it is a short book) - this is always a good indication that I am liking a read. Initially I thought this was a bad point, but I suspect it was done on purpose by the author to get people thinking about what might happen in a potential scenario that might not be too far away in the real world.

Cons: The hardcover book itself was a good example of the printer's craft. It was a pity the editing and proofreading didn't match the cover.

Overall I would say this book would be of interest to those with a casual interest in artificial intelligence who wanted to find out more about how autonomous artificial intelligent beings might come into existence. It is at odds with the ideas inherent in the concept of the Technological Spike where such beings boot strap themselves into hyper intelligence over night, which is one of the reasons I decided to read the book. It is not for someone who is interested in apocryphal stories like 'I, Robot' as it was presented in the 2004 Will Smith movie.

Update: I came back and changed my rating for this book the day after I made it because I had second thoughts about it. One of the ideas introduced in the book is to do with the obsolescence of software and data formats. This is a concept I have dealt with in a past professional life which I believe is important to everyone who uses computers. My own experience and thoughts on the matter were to do with legacy data and software. In this book the author has gone the other way and used the idea when talking about future developments of artificial intelligence and looked at a potential future problem that might be experienced in such a world. Nice thinking Mr Chiang.(less)

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Jul 10, 2011 Sienna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Took a quick break from breakfast and Susan Cooper to read this for three reasons: Ted Chiang bucks the boring short fiction trend; this one beat out Elizabeth Hand's fantastic "The Maiden Flight of McCaulay's Bellerophon" for Locus novella of the year; and Subterranean has made it freely available online.

My possibly weird preoccupation as an undergraduate philosophy major in love with Ludwig Wittgenstein was with imaginative language and its ability to express that which explicit truth-telling...more

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May 28, 2011 Alexandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, hugos-2011

I read this online at Subterranean, where it originally appeared.

I found it really hard to rate this story. Not that I don't think it's an utterly incredible story - I do. But I found the very end a bit disappointing, so not for the first time I found myself longing for half-stars. And I have absolutely no idea how I missed reading it last year; I must just have completely missed the name Ted Chiang. I've finally got around to it now because it's on the Novella ballot for the Hugos - against two...more

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May 02, 2011 Eh?Eh! rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodreader-gave-to-me, babble-added

I've just noticed Chiang to read him, and abruptly reached the end of his published body of work. I would like to chain him to a very large rock and make him write more. *whipcrack*

Told in present tense and skipping forward years or months, it follows the development, inevitable obsolescence, and striving for the sake of a virtual pet product called a digient. The humor is quiet and sly - I loved it. The human to human issues thread through, just enough to see the impacts of this product on peop...more I've just noticed Chiang to read him, and abruptly reached the end of his published body of work. I would like to chain him to a very large rock and make him write more. *whipcrack*

Told in present tense and skipping forward years or months, it follows the development, inevitable obsolescence, and striving for the sake of a virtual pet product called a digient. The humor is quiet and sly - I loved it. The human to human issues thread through, just enough to see the impacts of this product on people. The focus is on what makes an individual, exploring the line between caring for possessions and caring out of love, parenthood, choices. Just amazing. (view spoiler)

I wonder if parents may perhaps not be as affected by this. Being childless myself, I've seen that raising those little people can be a messy, frustrating, crushing, exhausting, confusing, but ultimately, and hopefully, joyful series of years' long phases to teach and nurture and clean up. Compared to that, what can sere paper and ink do to match it? But, being childless, I was sucked in to this deceptively simple story. Chiang cracks me open.

At several points, the issue of suspension was mentioned, (view spoiler)

That last was much more freeform-crazy than I meant it to be. I guess it doesn't spoiler the book, but I'll keep it tucked away in that spoiler code.

Thank you so much, Ceridwen! And Mike Reynolds, for giving it to Ceridwen! I love this.(less)

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Apr 15, 2011 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Ian Tregillis

Recommended to Ceridwen by: Mike

Shelves: america-and-environs, sci-fi, the-future-is-now, it-s-alive

I'm torn as to whether this should be three stars or four, not that anyone cares. Very, very solid high-concept exploration of the Turing Test, emergent artificial intelligence, etc. Unlike a lot of high concept stuff I've read, Chiang's prose isn't insane or overheated. I find that sometimes speculative writers try to compensate for the dryness of the ideas with a lot of flash-bombs and hand-waving, as if writing pages of descriptions of weasels! tusks! zero-g acrobatics! LED lights as make-up!...more I'm torn as to whether this should be three stars or four, not that anyone cares. Very, very solid high-concept exploration of the Turing Test, emergent artificial intelligence, etc. Unlike a lot of high concept stuff I've read, Chiang's prose isn't insane or overheated. I find that sometimes speculative writers try to compensate for the dryness of the ideas with a lot of flash-bombs and hand-waving, as if writing pages of descriptions of weasels! tusks! zero-g acrobatics! LED lights as make-up! house on wheels! can sex up ideas which should, by all rights, be interesting enough to stand on their own. So it's cool that Chiang has enough respect for his ideas not to tart them up with a bunch of frank sf silliness.

But, well, the story is a little dry. The narrative perspective is positively atmospheric, viewing the characters only insofar as they relate to the digients, which are the titular software objects. (Look, I know making this criticism after complaining about the alternative is a total bitch-move.) It's definitely more essayish in tone, but in way that would only be possible in narrative form, and one that consistently set up expectations/readings/interpretations for me and then knocked them down in short order. Pretty freaking well done. Also, Chiang has a very sly, quiet sense of humor, one that might get missed if you're not paying attention. (The people creating an alien culture through the digients are especially funny, and the line drawings, such as one depicting a digient/human bj - who said high concept sf had to be sexless? - had me smiling at a number of points.)

Mike's probably right that this will be heavily anthologized though - and it should be - so I'm going with three stars for the format alone. I read this as an almost lovingly fetishistic hardback paper edition, with beautiful paper, generous layout, and thoughtful art. I know it seems weird to knock down a star for the high quality of the edition, but $25 is a whole lot of bananas for a short story/novella, no matter how well done it is. If you are a Chiang enthusiast, it would probably be worth it. I can't count myself a Chiang enthusiast just yet - I think this is the first thing I've read by him - but if this is indicative of his other writings, I could certainly see myself going that way. Good stuff.

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Mar 10, 2011 The Unfanboy added it

Science fiction and fantasy generally work upon our minds in one of two ways. The more common way is by asking us to suspend our disbelief. This allows an author to indulge in a fantasy, force characters to face unexpected challenges, and construct metaphors that make us see the real world differently. The other path is through expansion of belief, where an author envisions detailed scenarios so plausible that they revise our estimations of our own reality’s potential.

Certainly many works would...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Book Calendar rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: computers, science-fiction

The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang

This novel is about artificial intelligence. The author likes the idea of the Turing test and is describing the process of raising artificial intelligences in this novel. The story touches on many different issues in artificial intelligence; raising artificial beings, designing different thinking patterns than our own, the rights of intelligent beings, artificial worlds, and the emotional life of machines are some of the topics.

Some of the content...more

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Mar 01, 2011 Pak rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: profound

A 2010 Nebula Award novella finalist, I found the title intriguing as a graduate in Artificial Intelligence and having gone through most of the roles in software development. The former turned out to be more relevant than I had thought as the story concerns Artificial Intelligence.

I won't spoil it by going through the plot details, but suffice it to say that it is just as much about friendship and love, in their many forms, than it is about software or artificial intelligence. For me, it is the...more

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Feb 05, 2011 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others, and was thrilled to learn that he released a short novel. Chiang is an amazing writer, and is able to strike at the fault lines of difficult questions with a subtlety and precision which I have not found in other contemporary writers.

This book is a story of two people who work for a software company which produces artificially-intelligent companions ("Digients") such that their intelligence grows naturally, via experience. The interactions o...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Laura Lam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, science-fiction, artificial-intel

Background/Synopsis:

Ted Chiang is a science fiction short story writer who has achieved a lot of acclaim. I reviewed his short story collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, earlier this year. The Lifecycle of Software Objects is his first novella and his longest work to date.

Remember Neopets? My poor Neopet, created in 2000, might still be floating about the web somewhere, extremely hungry and neglected. In the story, digents are being programmed, and they are essentially extremely advanced...more Background/Synopsis:

Ted Chiang is a science fiction short story writer who has achieved a lot of acclaim. I reviewed his short story collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, earlier this year. The Lifecycle of Software Objects is his first novella and his longest work to date.

Remember Neopets? My poor Neopet, created in 2000, might still be floating about the web somewhere, extremely hungry and neglected. In the story, digents are being programmed, and they are essentially extremely advanced Neopets. The story spans several years and follows the digients, the programmers who first worked with them and then grew to love them and adopt them, and the struggles the digients face in finding a safe corners of the internet and questioning who they are and what they can become.

Strengths:

Well-written, with strong bits of humour, interesting characters, and a theme that makes us question what a person or an entity truly is. At times the humans instinctively wish to protect the digients at cost to themselves, and they are stumped as to why they feel the digients need more protection than themselves.

Weaknesses:

The ending is a bit too open for my liking.

Musings:

Ted Chiang has a knack for finding really interesting topics to write about. He obviously spends a long time polishing them, and no word is put there by accident. The digients are wonderful characters and despite the length of the novella, I found myself growing to care for them. I want a digient!

It also comments on how fickle humans are--this amazing technology will come about to create artificial life, but the digients are seen only as commodities are entertainment, and many humans become more and suspend their digients, much like my long-ago abandoned Neopet. There is conflict for the main characters to both find a permanent home for digients and to combat against those who do not understand why they have come to be so close to "programming."

Recommendation:

To anyone who is interested in artificial life and science fiction that you can chew on.(less)

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Sep 01, 2010 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I knew when I saw the cover art (seconds before I pre-ordered the Limited Edition two-tone foil print version) that I would uncritically adore this book (and probly end up with the image tattooed on my stomach/manwomb).

My actual reaction was more mixed but to my mind there were 3 salient components to this book:
1) the story (fantastic)
2) the narrative, or actual *telling* of the story (wraith-like, emaciated, impoverished)
3) the illustrations (transcendent)

It kinda seemed like Chiang turned i...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010_release_read, genre-sf, read_2010, shorts, t2_recommended_2010

It is Ted Chiang it is a must is an axiom of sff short stories since nobody does them better today. The Lifecycle which is presented as a novella though it reads like a short novel since it has the depth and length for such, is no exception and despite that the subject is among the most mundane Mr. Chiang tackled in his stories and there is a lot of stuff about gaming, virtual worlds and such that usually have very little if any interest for me, I was sucked in the story and could not put it dow...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Allan Dyen-shapiro rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a novella that is available free on line. Ted Chiang is great at idea-driven science fiction, but he really shines when he also creates characters that are compelling. He doesn't do that a lot. Here he does, and it's one of the best science fiction stories I've ever read.

This is the story of a zookeeper who goes to work for a company that creates digital pets that interact as if they were real and have the intelligence of a small child. It follows the pets from an early-stage idea in dev...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Julie Davis rated it 5 of 5 stars

I cannot believe I never mentioned this book on Goodreads since it completely blew me away when I read it originally, back when it was being distributed for people to read before Hugo voting.

Here's part of a Ted Chiang column I wrote that dealt with this novella.

After the zoo she worked at closes, animal specialist Ana Alvarado is hired as a trainer/psychologist to care for a group of "digients," virtual pets designed for a virtual-reality world. These pets have artificial intelligence and the a

...more I cannot believe I never mentioned this book on Goodreads since it completely blew me away when I read it originally, back when it was being distributed for people to read before Hugo voting.

Here's part of a Ted Chiang column I wrote that dealt with this novella.

After the zoo she worked at closes, animal specialist Ana Alvarado is hired as a trainer/psychologist to care for a group of "digients," virtual pets designed for a virtual-reality world. These pets have artificial intelligence and the ability to develop personalities and wills as they interact with their owners. Derek Brooks designs the avatars for the digients. Ana and Derek each adopt some digients which—as they grow up—become relevant characters. The story is told in small vignettes spaced several months or a year apart. Thus readers get to see the developmental dynamics of the digients and their owners over time. When the virtual-reality-pet fad fades, Ana and Derek struggle to find ways to keep their digients functioning and growing.

The reader can easily extrapolate this to our computer-and-video-game-obsessed culture. What Chiang does, however, is set up parallels between the humans' development and the digients' development. Ana and Derek's efforts are not only about maintaining the virtual environment, but also nurturing their digients' needs as growing, developing life forms. We become aware that the fallible humans in the story also have "software" that is developing. The reader identifies with themes of personal growth, parenthood, and families. Questions about artificial intelligence crossing the line into true life—lived for its own sake—lead to reflection about creation and creator, free will and existing "outside of time," as well as access to the "tree of knowledge."

Chiang's latest work may be his most accessible and also may be the entry that tempts readers into his other short stories, all of which are richly rewarding. It is a short work but one that repays the time spent a hundred-fold.

FINAL
I'm so glad that Scott chose this book and that made me reread it. I remembered the struggles and frustration, but I had forgotten the triumphant celebration of what it means to be humans, to be parents, to love and to want the best for those we love which Chiang included in this book.

How does Chiang do this? What a genius!(less)

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Jul 01, 2011 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Ana and Derek were both there to help start up the new Digients (pets/robots/virtual creatures). As the years pass and the technology grows obsolete, and more and more people put their Digients to sleep permanently. Ana and Derek keep on going with their babies though, even after their company shuts down. Year after year we see the slight evolution in these virtual companions and see the effects that new technology has on their lives. Ana and Derek have to face many things to protect their Digie...more

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Oct 04, 2010 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: random-comments-review

...The Lifecycle of Software Objects is a very interesting little work. It raises a lot of questions for which no simple answers exist, as the ending of the novel clearly shows. Despite the brief descriptions of the various episodes in the development of the Digients I thought this novella a very interesting read. There is no doubt some people will be put off by the fact that it is such a focussed work. Even if it concentrates on the project of teaching software as you would a child, this book l...more

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About Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang (born 1967) is an American speculative fiction writer. He was born in Port Jefferson, New York and graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. He is a graduate of the noted Clarion Writers Workshop (1989).

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“Women who work with animals hear this all the time: that their love for animals must arise out of a sublimated child-rearing urge. Ana's tired of the stereotype. She likes children just fine, but they're not the standard against which all other accomplishments should be measured. Caring for animals is worthwhile in and of itself, a vocation that need offer no apologies.” — 10 people liked it

“Experience is algorithmically incompressible.” — 2 people liked it

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