I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

This is a story set in a post-apocalyptic future. The Cold War progressed until it was too complicated for humans to manage, so the three major superpowers each developed a computer program to help run the war. When one of the programs becomes sentient it eliminates all of the human race except five persons, which it tortures for eternity.

Short but sweet (not really much tho :p) sci-fi and post-apocalyptic horror story. Some sentences are convolutedly constructed and a bit hard to grasp as first (that's just good ol' Ellison it seems), but the impact stands overall conveying a well-crafted and crude narrative. The religious parallelisms are impossible to ignore (the burning bush, 'Go Down Moses', the general idea of dystheism, etc) and A.M appears as a rage-driven pseudo-god, profoundly human in its manners and purpose, but still dissident towards its own nature: it (or he, for that matter) is really emotionally charged and deeply resentful, his only input is hate, it's his fuel and in consequence the one element he strives to spread; born in it, existing for it, a perfect loathing machine fueled by his own, infinite disdain towards humanity. In general a really interesting take on the evil A.I trope, goes more deep than mere torture porn and some parts are totally unhinged (like the gigantic bird one). 8/10 had mouth but didn't scream at all.

wow

the stories were a lot darker than I usually read, but the writing is amazing and gripping

“AM appeared to us as a burning bush and said we could kill the hurricane bird if we wanted to eat.” - Is this a reference to the bible?

Also, I will be throwing out all my electronics thanks to this story. But in all seriousness, I love dystopian genres, and the writing for this was short and to the point. Great read and free online if you google.