Google made us all work 816 million hours without our knowledge (the trap is very clever)

© Mozilla

We could partly guess it – but researchers have just quantified to what extent the so-called “CAPTCHA” or “reCAPTCHA” tests have made us all work without our knowledge (and continue to do so). You know these tests well. In some cases, on certain sites (Google or third parties), or before a download for example, a popup operated by Google is displayed.

We see 16 images taken from Google Street View and an instruction such as “click on the squares showing bridges” or “click on the images showing motorcycles”. Previously, it was necessary to identify between two and four street numbers. All this has largely allowed Google to save billions of dollars to train its AI. In particular those dedicated to image recognition.

How Google makes you work for free almost every day

Enough to make its tools market leaders in the process. But also to allow the firm to go ever further in the digitalization of the real world: from recognizing characters in books to displaying VR mode in Google Maps, all with a wealth of precise information, perfectly aligned with what we see. This very clever “trap” has existed for 13 years.

And it also has an interest presented as security, as we told you. Making it very popular outside the galaxy of Google sites. Thus, we learn in the study relayed by The Register that Google has made us all work some 819 million hours without our knowledge. If the term “work” bothers you for an operation that actually only takes a few seconds, two things are worth noting.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

First, what is asked of Internet users is becoming more and more complicated – with defective or very poor quality images. Then, there is a job dedicated to exactly this task: data annotator, or data labeling in English. Several platforms regularly recruit Internet users who are in this case paid – to solve CAPTCHA tests – or rather indicate that it is a cat or a bicycle that we see in an image.

Google, for its part, has found a way to achieve the same thing without any effort. With a saving of $6.1 billion according to researchers' estimates. The best part is that this tool is billed by Google to third-party sites at no less than $8 for 100,000 impressions. In addition to making you work for free, and participating in the excellence of the firm's AI tools, it therefore directly saves money for the Alphabet subsidiary.

The hope of seeing what many Internet users describe as an annoying step disappear is slim in the immediate future. But paradoxically, AI could come to the rescue. As our colleagues at BFMTV remind us, an automated version of ChatGPT (GPT-4) (a program called Autogpt, capable of creating agents to wait alone for a specific goal) has already managed to bypass this test.

To do this, the AI ​​went to the freelancer site Fiverr and simply asked a human service provider to solve the famous riddle that employs us all for free, whether we accept it or not.

• Researchers put the reCAPTCHA service published by Google into figures.
• Presented as a tool for securing websites, the service also allows Google's AI to be trained.
• All with your kind, and above all, gracious, help!

📍 To not miss any news from Presse-citron, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.

[ ]