# Autofac by Philip K. Dick

2 Hacker News commenters recommended Autofac by Philip K. Dick and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a favorite Philip K. Dick short story and a vivid fiction example of runaway self-replicating machines.

## Why people recommend it

- Favorite Philip K. Dick short story (1 comments): ""Autofac" is one of my favorite PKD short stories" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48329295))
- Like paperclip maximizer and grey goo (1 comments): "It's a bit "paperclip maximizer" and a bit "grey goo"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49996476))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Last Question by Isaac Asimov](https://hackerapproved.com/p/last-question.md): 50 recommend
- [There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-will-come-soft-rains.md): 27 recommend
- [They're Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/they-re-made-out-of-meat.md): 17 recommend
- [Lena by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lena.md): 16 recommend
- [The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster](https://hackerapproved.com/p/machine-stops.md): 15 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Autofac+by+Philip+K.+Dick&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Autofac by Philip K. Dick", https://hackerapproved.com/p/autofac/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).