AI & Machine LearningData Annotation

You've Been Training AI for Free

Those CAPTCHA traffic lights and crosswalks taught machines to see

You've clicked traffic lights and typed wobbly words for years to prove you're human. Ever wonder where all those answers went?

You'll find out

  • Why wobbly words stopped robots
  • The second job hidden in the test
  • What your clicks taught a machine

Why it matters

AI learns from examples labeled by people. Much of that labeling was done by all of us, a few seconds at a time.

About 3 min6 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 65 · Zone 8

Play this lesson

Free to play in your browser or on iPhone

More in this zone

  1. 64Computer NetworksFinding a RoutePackets cross the planet without anyone knowing the whole map
  2. 66Pattern PerceptionFaces EverywhereYour brain is so tuned to faces it finds them in plugs and toast
  3. 67SpaceflightSixteen Sunrises a DayThe space station circles Earth every 90 minutes
  4. 68CombinatoricsThe Party PuzzleAt any party of six, three are all friends or all strangers
  5. 69Internet TrafficHalf the Internet Is RobotsNearly half of all web traffic is not human
  6. 70Social EngineeringWould You Plug It In?Nearly half of dropped USB sticks got plugged in
  7. 71AcousticsThe Sonic BoomOutrun your own sound and it piles up into a shock wave
  8. 72Color ScienceThe Missing YellowYour screen shows yellow without a single yellow light