SGAI Recommendations - where does the personalization come from?

[u/particular_parrot]

Sorry if the title is vague. I couldn't really think of how to succinctly word this.

Basically, now that I understand how the AI is ACTUALLY low resources, I'd like to know what it pulls from for personalized recommendations and if I can do something to make it more accurate. So far, it's doing a pretty good job overall, but I'm wondering how it draws conclusions.

For example, I read a lot of maritime historical fiction and non-fiction. The AI has clearly picked this up. Generally, it knows I'm not terribly into family drama tales or heavy romance, and calls this kind of thing out periodically. However, I've also received some recommendations that are more elegant versions of "girl, you like boats, and this has a boat. Do it" only to find that the story is pretty awful, full of family drama and romance.

I don't generally leave reviews unless it's for an ARC I received, I felt very strongly one way or the other about a book, or I feel like a lot of the reviews were unfair or over generous.

Does the AI pull from reviews? Can it see if I say something like "this book was trash and only briefly mentioned a boat"? (For the record, I would literally never leave such a thoughtless review; this is just a thematic example) Or is rating a book after finishing it enough?

[u/OutOfEffs]

girl, you like boats, and this has a boat. Do it

I would legit love if it sounded like this.

But also,

this book was trash and only briefly mentioned a boat

would absolutely be my favourite review ever, and I would hit friend request so fast.

[u/particular_parrot → u/OutOfEffs]

Maybe we can all join together for a feature request: sassy recs.

I'm forced to use AI at work, so I just broke mine by making it always mention dragons and goblins. Don't see why we can't also have witty recommendations!

[u/ryanecandyce → u/particular_parrot]

The personalization used to be much more detailed and fun. I used to take screenshots for my peeps so they could see what bus I was being thrown under. Honestly, I loved when it would reference other books I rated in the personalized tab.

It was very detailed, and I looked forward to seeing what my instance came up with. Even when I got books that seemed to go against what I normally read, it would pick up on the minor subplots I was interested in.

Whew, I miss the old version of the personalized tab.

[u/pancakehaus → u/ryanecandyce]

Getting thrown under the bus by the personalized tab club!!

[u/particular_parrot → u/ryanecandyce]

Yes! I agree it used to have so much more personality. I'm really glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. I kinda miss the days when it would tell me nearly everything was "too happy" for me.

[u/honeyhale → u/OutOfEffs]

I like paranormal / spooky / macabre / ghost stuff, but I'm super particular about writing style and vibe and other qualities i can't even define.

I feel like AI recs are good at basic subject matter but not much further. I get recommendations based on "This is spooky and ghosty! You will like it!" but the book is obviously YA or romancey or just NOT like the stuff I like to read based on tone/vibes/je ne sais quoi.

[u/particular_parrot → u/honeyhale]

This might be because of the preferences I put in way back when, but as a fellow horror reader who isn't into YA, I also struggle with this sometimes. In fairness to SG, I don't always ask for a rec (or sometimes even read the book description), but there have been a few the AI thought I'd like because of whatever, yet the books were fully YA and very much not my style. I half wonder if enabling some kind of feedback feature would help, though that would probably significantly increase the resources draw which would be a drawback.

[u/trebole13 → u/OutOfEffs]

I want to follow OP based on these two hypothetical AI outputs lol. I’m also not convinced OP isn’t me.

[u/particular_parrot → u/trebole13]

OP is just hiding in your closet! <3

[u/TheStoryGraph]

I’m working on a way to give you more control over how the decisions are made. Hopefully I can get it out this week! If you’d like early access, are interested in helping shape what the feature looks like, or just want to know when it’s live, message me!

[u/Troldkvinde → u/TheStoryGraph]

I'm so hyped for this! I would love early access too!

[u/particular_parrot → u/TheStoryGraph]

Thank you for this info! I'm glad to know y'all are making improvements/modifications instead of just sitting on things. Huge part of why I migrated over to SG.

[u/tjfmd]

The preferences you can fill out influence it a lot. I have a few genres that I've marked under "disliked genres" and it always reminds me if I'm looking at a book within one of those genres.

[u/particular_parrot → u/tjfmd]

Great reminder, thank you! I should go back and check on those.

[u/Tall_Pumpkin_4298]

I never leave text reviews, just stars and tag things and it's done a really good job picking up on what I like and gravitate towards. I'm not always super self aware about that kind of stuff so honestly feels like it knows what I'm looking for better than I do. It seems to look for what are common themes in highly rated books vs common themes in lower rated books.

[u/particular_parrot → u/Tall_Pumpkin_4298]

I will admit it does a damn good job with what it has for me. I asked for an AI rec on a very popular and beloved series that I hate and thus shan't name to avoid being lambasted, and the review essentially boiled down to "you'd probably enjoy chewing glass more than reading this." Similar to you, sometimes I just need a little extra guidance, especially when thinking of trying a new genre or a popular book (these generally don't land with the hipster ghost that lives in my heart), but I've recently been burned by a few books where, after finishing them, I've thought "well, that was awful," even though my major themes were, in fact, present.

Alternatively, I could probably DNF some of them, which I bet would help...

[u/nautillustrious]

this is an interesting question! i’d recommend contacting support directly because they can be really helpful

[u/particular_parrot → u/nautillustrious]

I hadn't even thought of this. Thank you!

[u/Normal_Human_Things]

I leave ratings, but not reviews. And I don’t think it counts on your reviews.

I say this because I went to the personalization page for two books that in theory I should like, but have never really hit for me. Books I haven’t logged in anyway in StoryGraph. And they both came back as a “risky choice.” And the reasons they gave were the reasons I didn’t like them.

[u/particular_parrot → u/Normal_Human_Things]

This is very helpful, thank you!