Anyone who occasionally uses the Internet will know the so-called “CAPTCHA”, those small tests that appear on different websites to prove that you are human and not a robot trying to exploit content or resources. Invented in 2000, they have caused the ire of millions of people around the world, since sometimes these tests are more complicated than desired. But there are those who have managed to turn the tables in a masterful way.
The Guatemalan Luis von Ahn, one of its inventors, devised how to ensure that the time spent** by users deciphering CAPTCHAs was used for something truly useful for all of humanity: the mass digitization of books. As? von Ahn himself explains how reCAPTCHA works in this video (in English, with subtitles in 30 languages here):
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ht4qiDRZE8\[/embed\]
In addition to being a very entertaining video, it tells interesting things such as that thanks to his company reCAPTCHA, later purchased by Google, Internet users are digitizing a million and a half books a year without knowing it, completely free of charge and without wasting more time than other existing anti-robot techniques. This is called targeting and maximizing productivity. Great, right?
In the video he also talks about his next project, Duolingo, in which using similar ideas, users learn languages for free while helping translate the Internet. I’ve been testing English courses for a couple of days and I think the idea is tremendously productive for those who want to get started in a language. And by the way, why not, contribute to spreading culture throughout the world.