Eve wants to make music that’s fuelled by love, passion, and rage (feelings!). She trusts her gut and her friends and in no way wants to rely on technology, let alone AI, to tell her how she feels. Danny is anxious – about his dad, his dating life, his coffee order (why is it twelve dollars?), and about Pattern, the dating app he helped create, which seems determined to serve him terrible matches.
When Eve and Danny start dating, it feels like the solution to all of Danny’s worries – except when it doesn’t. Is she happy? Should he be doing more? Or less? His anxieties inspire him to create a revolutionary new version of Pattern that promises to quantify relationship health and potential, helping users understand what’s really going on.
As Pattern and Bug, the ever-so-friendly AI assistant, catch fire, users everywhere begin outsourcing major life decisions to Danny’s algorithms. But as Danny reckons with his newfound success, Eve – whose career relies on her ability to write her emotions into song – grows increasingly sceptical of the app’s impact on genuine connection. Their relationship becomes the ultimate modern experiment: how do you fall and stay in love in the digital age?
Review
Laura Brooke Robson’s Love is an Algorithm is a clever love story, but does not hit all the story beats of a traditional romance, and it’s not quite a rom-com. Regardless, there are many reflections on modern love – and a lot to love within the story.
As someone who missed the online dating era entirely (my long-term partner and I met in person, just before dating apps were everywhere) I have always been fascinated by the intersection of love, dating, and technology. Hence I am curious about the integration and normalisation of LLMs and AI within relationships. At the centre of this novel is a dating app that purports to match people on their compatibility, but then goes a step further and also assesses the compatibility of people within committed relationships. What would you do if you and your partner were only scored a 50? Is a 75 too low? What is the acceptable minimum, and what does a score really mean?
Even in just the past few days, I have had conversations with friends about a. being in a Black Mirror-style dystopia, where people become emotionally attached to AI chatbots (including AI ‘partners’), and b. how people in real relationships use AI (see this Substack as a scary reminder of what might happen when AI chat history is accidentally leaked). Love is an Algorithm adds to this conversation by reflecting on AI and how it feeds into our dating anxieties, stopping us from sitting with the uncertainty of relationship challenges, or facing the hard conversations with each other – essentially outsourcing the hard stuff to a chatbot. Yet, Love is an Algorithm avoids being alarmist or moralising, also acknowledging some of the benefits of AI and that many creators behind these tools genuinely have good intentions.
Putting aside the interesting reflections on AI, this novel excels in its characters. I genuinely rooted for both Eve and Danny, and the secondary characters were also fleshed out well. The story pondered topics like attachment styles, parent-child relationships, cyberbullying, and privilege. Although I felt the ending lacked some oomph, the book kept my attention and interest throughout.
Overall, I recommend Love is an Algorithm for those who enjoy reflective, character-driven reads, and those who are interested in love in the digital age.
Thank you to Text Publishing for the review copy.
Review by Elise
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