

If you actually are a robot, then we sincerely apologize for assuming your status as a human. RELATED: What Is Machine Learning? But What if I Actually Am a Robot? So ironically, by screening out bots, you’re actually helping to make them better at image recognition tasks needed for defeating CAPTCHAS in the future.Īnd by pointing out all those crosswalks, stoplights, and bridges, you might be helping to train an upcoming generation of self-driving cars-although as of 2019, Google claimed reCAPTCHA data is not being used in that way at the present time. Today, when you solve a reCAPTCHA challenge, you are helping Google train its AI machine learning models by pointing out objects in various photos that computers might otherwise have trouble recognizing. (Someone even attempted to sue Google over this in 2015. In 2009, Google acquired reCAPTCHA and began using the platform to decode Google Street View addresses, extracting a few seconds of labor from every person who has ever had to solve the challenge. Since 2007, a project called reCAPTCHA began using its CAPTCHA test as a way to perform meaningful tasks, such as digitizing books and training machine learning algorithms-and asking you to check “I’m not a robot.”

Why the Vision Puzzle?ĬAPTCHAs originated as images with letters, numbers, or words written in wiggly fonts, often obscured with lines or noise in a way that could foil computer vision algorithms.

For example: When making or logging into accounts (to prevent fraud or hacking), when posting comments (to prevent spam), and when buying products or tickets (to prevent scalping)-just to name a few.Īnd that’s why you have to prove you’re not a robot.

There are many situations when website owners want to make sure a real human is entering information into a site.
