CAPTCHA Got It Wrong About My Humanity
Choose the Things That Are Fragile
I type in the message I want to leave in the comment box beneath a friend’s blog post.
Then the CAPTCHA appears.
You know how it works. Before I can hit “submit,” I need to prove I am human.
Usually that means identifying things like traffic lights or crosswalks. This time, the challenge throws me.
Choose the things that are fragile.
The screen fills with eight tiny squares.
- Four contain teacups
- Four contain motorcycles
I know what they want me to click, even though I don’t think it’s accurate.
I have a very human response alright. But it isn’t what the spam blocker intends.
It isn’t logic. It is fear.
The Birthday Request
My young grandson had been waiting for his birthday for months. He had requested a dirt bike.
That was no surprise. Since he was tiny, he has always been fascinated by any vehicle with wheels. As he got older, he began riding trikes and bikes and motorized Power Wheels with confidence and coordination beyond his age. He’d been a happy passenger on his dad’s dirt bike every opportunity he could get.
And now he was ready for one of his own.
I knew this birthday was coming.
I knew this bike was coming.
But I dreaded it anyway.
Not because I doubted his abilities to ride a motorized bike. Nor did I doubt his parents’ judgment to choose an age-appropriate one.
My fear arose from knowing how fragile a little boy’s body can be.
I tear up when he skins a knee on the concrete after a bicycle wreck. I wince if he runs into something while playing. Add more speed and a bigger machine, and my imagination supplies even more possibilities of danger.
The Fragile Cargo
The birthday arrived.
The dirt bike was given.
The first ride was taken.
And my grandson loved it. Of course he did. And I was excited for him. Truly.
The bike is designed for beginners and doesn’t go very fast. When he rides, he wears every piece of safety gear imaginable. He rides supervised. He rides carefully.
And he rides with pure joy.
Still, I know he can get hurt. Then again, so can any of us. We can wreck our cars. Miss a step on the stairs. Catch a virus we never saw coming.
Life keeps us aware of all the ways things can break.
That’s why the CAPTCHA stops me.
I know I’m supposed to click only the teacups as the fragile items, not the motorcycles too. But I want to yell back, “ALL these items in the squares are fragile!”
Because a motorcycle is now carrying my fragile boy.
And with it, my fragile heart.
What AI Doesn’t Understand
Maybe I understand CAPTCHA’s question better than it does.
I’ve lived long enough to know that fragility isn’t limited to dainty china teacups.
Bodies are fragile.
Egos are fragile.
Relationships are fragile.
Part of being human means being fragile. AI might mimic our words and our logic and, in its own way, our kindness.
But AI cannot wake up at night and worry about a grandson riding a dirt bike.
It also can’t feel the delight we get watching someone receive a much-wanted birthday present and have it live up to their dreams.
AI does not know what love feels like.
A Human Choice
As a human being, I can breathe and bleed. I can laugh and cry. And I can bend and break. Every meaningful thing in my life carries the possibility of being broken or lost one day.
We live in fragile bodies with fragile hearts. We take risks every day, whether we’re getting behind the wheel of a car, starting a new relationship, trusting someone with our story.
Or climbing onto a dirt bike.
Sometimes we get hurt. And sometimes things break. Sometimes we break.
Yet on every morning that we can, we get up and do it again. Move again. Risk again.
And love again. Maybe that’s the real test of humanity: loving even when we know things can break.
To please CAPTCHA and get my comment approved, I click on the 4 teacups. I leave the motorcycles unchecked.
But between you and me, I know the most fragile things aren’t even the teacups.
They are the people.
Let’s keep choosing them.
What fragile thing do you continue to love despite the risks that come with caring deeply?
P.S. My One Word this year is Shift. Somewhere between the teacups and the motorcycles, my attention shifted from what was fragile to who was fragile.
More on AI:
- That “Friend” Is Not Who You Think They Are
As AI becomes more helpful and polite, it’s easy to confuse it with friendship. Think about why human connection still matters. - What the Algorithm Does to Our Words—and Why It Matters
How are algorithms changing language through online slang, euphemisms, and emotional manipulation? And what does it mean for our culture? - When to Ignore GPS (and Listen to Yourself Instead)
Sometimes GPS isn’t best. Here’s how one road trip reminded me that the best navigation system is sometimes your own intuition. - Do You Say Thank You to AI? The Bots Are Listening
Do you say thank you to AI? Are we trusting AI too much? Stay aware of how computers are shaping us.