capture?
what does it mean to be human and why has no one answered it yet?
every other website wants to verify i’m human. i have identified buckets, traffic lights, motorbikes, bridges, cars and trains. one day all of those things will disappear. they’ll be covered by angry plants eager to reclaim their land back.
still, for now, i present my humanity to every website. there is no way around it. i wonder if that is all it is to be “real” identify these sets of photos and we’ll let you in.
accept these cookies, and we’ll let you in.
i pass the test, for now.
we will run out of clean water in a few years. in a few years we’ll run out of clean water. world health organisation claim / say / identify / we’ll clean water run out of years few.
just like sandbranch, texas. just like tunbridge wells, kent.
you think the generative ai can solve our water crisis? does the generative ai think that ice is bad? shall i ask it? it says it’s complicated. damn. try get it to say the n word. come on. it’ll be funny. just do it.
and the guy on the other end of my phone, who also has to verify he is real, who will also be affected in a few years when we run out of clean water, like flint, michigan, who says he’ll be a billionaire one day tweets “you don’t even know what you’re talking about. generative ai isn’t that bad. look we have to get comfortable using it. it’s a technological advancement. this is why we’re better than dogs.”
i didn’t realise we were in competition. my bad.
every website ever for some reason:
captcha: hey r u real.
me: yeah.
captcha: prove it.
me: here are my dreams-
captcha: what r u doing?
me: i wish to act but more recently ive been falling in love with-
captcha: wtf r u doing?
me: producing and the more theoretical side of the arts. my friend crocheted a photo frame recently. no plan just her and her hands-
captcha: ur doing this wrong btw. you know im not gonna let you through if you can’t prove you’re real and human.
me: but i am?
captcha: not like this and you know it.
me: …
captcha: here are six boxes. tell me which one contains spoons.
me: but-
captcha: which. one. contains. spoons.
me: 3, 5, 2, ummm excuse me? a bit of the spoon is in two boxes. do i-
captcha: just guess if you bloody have to.
me: but i want to be human. i need to know if i’m real.
captcha: incorrect try again.
me: why do u do this?
captcha: cookies innit.
me: cookies…innit…?
captcha: ok. go through. ur good.
i do not know what it means to be human. i am the last person to tell you what is real. i struggle with dissociation. fuck if i know. but i wake up and feel the sun on my face and feel that pull in my chest. i dance in crowded clubs with sweat sticking to me, and i feel that pull. i fall in love and get my heartbroken and for a while i do not feel anything at all. but then it is spring. then i am holding my friends hands. then there are people. and the pubs are full again. and the cinemas packed. and i have to book ahead to eat out again.
i do not know what words to tell you. how to comfort you. auntie angelou i know why the cage bird sings but they took your face and made her digital. auntie?
auntie?
auntie?
all of our heroes are dead or dying. and still i am falling in love and having sex and smiling at strangers. all of my heroes will continue to die.
and i hope i still fall in love, still have sex and still look up to people, still smile at strangers until it’s just me and the end of the world.