Book-Choice App Alexi Aims to Free Readers from 'Algorithm Rabbit Hole'

It started as an idea at a kitchen table between friends frustrated by the limitations of algorithm-driven digital recommendations and star ratings of books that they believed had encouraged a “deep engagement with the shallow” over the last 10 years.

Two years on, the founder of the Folio prize Andrew Kidd and Silicon Valley veteran Ayesha Karim hope Alexi, an app backed by illustrious authors as well as influential critics, will bring to the attention of “passionate readers” books that on launch were eclipsed by heavily promoted rivals.