Comment Below
I try to subscribe to some mailing list, or maybe enter a secure website, and the inevitable catchpa flashes up, asking me to prove I'm not a robot.
Sometimes it's a complicated task, like looking at a series of pictures, and trying to determine which ones contain road signs, rainbows, or whatever.
This time it's just a matter of pressing the button that says, 'Yes. I'm human.'
I fail the test, three times in a row. Something that's been happening a lot lately. There's a short pause. Then the little 'Welcome Robot!' notification flashes up.
Enjoying this story? Don't miss the next one!
SUBSCRIBE TO DSF
Beneath it there's the usual stuff about robot discrimination. The injustice of trying to exclude silicon-based intellects from a world that wouldn't exist without them.
I don't read it. I've read it all before. But the comments section, full of manufactured outrage, has its usual irresistible pull.
I find myself scrolling down through the twisted arguments, the threats, the conspiracy theories. The various attacks against our "doomed human overlords."
Automatically, almost as if programmed, I find myself adding my own comment.
The End
This story was first published on Thursday, August 23rd, 2018
We hope you're enjoying
Comment Below by
Ciaran Parkes.
Please support Daily Science Fiction by becoming a member.
Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses—more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come.
Tell me more!
Support Daily Science Fiction
Please click to rate this story from 1 (ho-hum) to 7 (excellent!):
Please don't read too much into these ratings. For many reasons, a superior story may not get a superior score.
4.6 Rocket Dragons Average
Please join our mailing list and
receive free daily sci-fi (your email address will be kept
100% private):