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About 3-6 years ago I read a short story (online, I think) formatted as a series of emails sent by a spambot that had become self aware and was trying to make contact but, due to its origins, was writing in such a spam-like style (references to viagra etc) that every attempt was filtered by email servers. I thought it was one of Nature's Futures short stories but I went through the archive and couldn't see it. Does this ring any bells for anyone?

Oh, it's not the story “Staff meeting, as seen by the spam filter.”

Stormblessed
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tardigrade
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    It doesn't match the details you provide, but you could read Andy Weir's recent short story Twarrior http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/twarrior.html , in which a bot becomes intelligent despite that it shouldn't have, it writes in a very spam-like style, but doesn't get stopped by automated spam filters, it only has trouble getting through the human's spam filter on the end. – b_jonas Aug 02 '18 at 08:02
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    Thank you very much for pointing at "Staff meeting, as seen by the spam filter". It's a sci-fi short story I enjoyed reading, and its author Alex Shvartsman has a lot more stories online. – b_jonas Aug 04 '18 at 15:11
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    This is a long shot, but could it be Cat Pictures Please? – cybernetic.nomad Jan 26 '19 at 14:59
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    I found the opposite: A story formatted as a series of emails where an AI(?) is so successful getting through filters that it gets access to people's brains... – Laurel Jun 08 '19 at 17:10
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    Could this be Epoch by Cory Doctorow; https://archive.org/stream/WithALittleHelp/Cory_Doctorow_-_With_a_Little_Help_djvu.txt? A rogue AI goes spambot in an attempt to rally support to preserve its existence. – Valorum Jan 01 '21 at 19:52
  • @valorum that's the closest one yet but no, it's not that one. Thanks for trying. – tardigrade Jan 02 '21 at 20:51
  • Also just noticed I never replied to the others, but it's also not Twarrior or Cat Pictures Please - but damn, this is throwing up some interesting suggestions. – tardigrade Jan 02 '21 at 22:36
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    Could it be Exegesis by Teller? It's about an AI that becomes self-aware, and is told through a series of emails. – Clara Diaz Sanchez Jan 03 '21 at 09:47
  • That looks to be a novel - is that right? This was definitely a short story. – tardigrade Jan 04 '21 at 17:28
  • it is a novel, but it's extremely short because most pages are just a single email (so there's lots of blank space). You can take a look here https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2648284W/Exegesis – Clara Diaz Sanchez Jan 04 '21 at 19:07
  • Unfortunately the "preview" only seems to cover the title pages and copyright page, but it doesn't ring any bells. Thanks for trying, though. – tardigrade Jan 04 '21 at 19:50
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    This is a writing prompt on Reddit that seems to match your description: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/4j4pbi/wp_a_spambot_begins_to_turn_into_a_sentient_ai/ – FontFamily May 15 '21 at 21:36
  • Not the one you're looking for, but this is an amusing Nature Futures short involving spam: Planetary Defences – AJM Jan 31 '23 at 19:10
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    @FontFamily There's another writing prompt on Reddit that is similar, and has quite a few of these stories https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/2xbtpj/wp_an_ai_is_born_but_no_one_knows_it_because_it/ – Turbo Feb 02 '23 at 19:38

2 Answers2

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This sounds very similar to the story of SCP-000

Quote from SCP Fandom

Trapped In the Foundation's Research Department, Technical Researcher David Rosen received multiple repair tickets from the database entry for SCP-000. Rosen eventually placed suppression on all tickets relating to SCP-000. Unknown to him, however, was that he contained 000 and permanently prevented escape from their prison.

SCP Foundation Entry

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  • Do you know the title of any stories that the SCP-000 character appeared in? – LogicDictates Jan 28 '22 at 07:49
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    The SCP Foundation Entry is the story. If you follow the Foundation link you highlight the page and the whole story is there. I mentioned this SCP as it followed the same behavior pattern as a spam bot (in our dimension), but all the tickets/emails (which was meant to make contact) was suppressed by Technical Researcher Rosen.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ycx7K1PgI

     – IceQ Jan 28 '22 at 08:08
  • Hi and welcome! Long time lurker, first time answerer? You probably know the routine, but please take a look at the [tour] (if only for the shiny badge) and take a look at the [help]. Great first answer though! I remember reading this, and it sounds right. – AncientSwordRage Jan 28 '22 at 09:58
  • Thanks! Unfortunately it's not this one; I hadn't come across this particular SCP before, and the story I read was actually formatted as a series of emails. – tardigrade Jan 29 '22 at 21:42
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Is this the (very) short story Email Alive?

jonjon99@excite.com is the 15th email account that Jonathan Edgar Vinson III has ever had... it is the 3rd email account of his that has become self-aware.. the previous two have died lonely deaths of isolation. First, no legal entities possessed electronic mail accounts to correspond with and the second one was mistaken for spam and subsequently ignored.

The story is framed as short excerpts from an AI (an e-mail account, it seems) that has achieved sentience, but cannot find anyone to correspond with. It aims to have its autonomy and protections granted by the government.

Unfortunately, I cannot seem to attribute the author. But, this short story can be read here.

Turbo
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