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I am the only one who thinks google reCAPTCHA is just a tool that Google uses to train Machine Learning Algorithms? First it was used to help Google learn how t

I am the only one who thinks google reCAPTCHA is just a tool that Google uses to train Machine Learning Algorithms? First it was used to help Google learn how to Read, now its learning to detect object, landscapes, ...

sp332 11y ago
The little captcha box does some processing before deciding what to show you. If you look suspicious, it can show you a more complex challenge. If you look like a normal browser, it might show you a house number to read (to improve its Maps product maybe). If you already have a cookie set because you already proved you're human, maybe it's just that check-box that says "I'm a human".
- nxzero 11y ago
  Unless you're able to explicitly state how this is done and/or how to trick it in think you're "high risk" - then seems like speculation; yes, I'm aware Google's said this, but never seen an proof of it. I've found bug in the past in the system that were easy to fix, told Google, but the bugs never were fixed.
  - yaur 11y ago
    Try doing a Google search from tor. The catches that tor users get are borderline impossible because of the suspicious ip and/or browser.
    - SCHiM 11y ago
      Not impossible, very often I get the "Body of water" one, but I do seem to get a challenge every 10 minutes or so, in each new tab.
  - ruraljuror 11y ago
    It's not speculation. It's section 2 of the paper, titled "Analyzing Risk Analysis System."
  - rcthompson 11y ago
    I've experienced this first-hand. I used to always get the checkbox, but then one day I had to download a large series of related files from a website that used reCAPTCHA. I did all the clicking manually, but in a very repetitive and bot-like fashion, by opening a series of 10 new tabs at a time and then performing the same series of clicks on each tab to get to the download link. After a few minutes, I stopped getting checkboxes and started getting increasingly more difficult CAPTCHA challenges.
- nv-vn 11y ago
  I can't find the original source, but the system for deciding whether to just show a check box or not was super complicated.Back around a year and a half ago when it was first released, some people on 4chan's technology board (/g/) were frustrated because they'd repeatedly be marked as suspicious (and never got the check box only) when posting on 4chan (which requires a captcha to be solved for each post). One user in particular was reverse engineering it and published a ton of super interesting stuff on Github (the levels of obfuscation were insane), but later got a job offer from Google (allegedly) in exchange for deleting it.
whichfawkes 11y ago
No, that's definitely what it is. It just also happens to be useful for blocking bots.
kevincox 11y ago
I'm pretty sure this is the advertised purpose of it. It stops bots AND helps machine learning.
- kuschku 11y ago
  *AND helps a company make profit by training their proprietary models. If they were open, it would be a lot better (considering all the training is done by volunteers, too)
  - ant6n 11y ago
    I like to misidentify things to give them bad data.
    - kuschku 11y ago
      Well, I do the same. I won’t destroy any of their dataset, or even have a measurable impact – but in turn, I won’t have a measurable impact in positive direction either. If they want to make a profit from me, they should pay me, or they can license correct CAPTCHA results from me under GPL.
      - mehta 11y ago
        This argument doesn't really make sense to me. What browser, OS and device are you using to post this comment? Someone made profit when you bought the device, bought the OS and/or browser. A healthy system needs some kind of motivation. In economies, that is profits/money. What's wrong with that? (I know I am being simplistic here but...)
        deelowe 11y ago
        Napster, torrents, and the free internet warped an entire generation's perspective on things. This sort of "everything should be free" attitude isn't going away any time soon.
        11y ago
fabiofumarola 11y ago
I agree with you

sp332 11y ago

The little captcha box does some processing before deciding what to show you. If you look suspicious, it can show you a more complex challenge. If you look like a normal browser, it might show you a house number to read (to improve its Maps product maybe). If you already have a cookie set because you already proved you're human, maybe it's just that check-box that says "I'm a human".

nxzero 11y ago
Unless you're able to explicitly state how this is done and/or how to trick it in think you're "high risk" - then seems like speculation; yes, I'm aware Google's said this, but never seen an proof of it. I've found bug in the past in the system that were easy to fix, told Google, but the bugs never were fixed.
- yaur 11y ago
  Try doing a Google search from tor. The catches that tor users get are borderline impossible because of the suspicious ip and/or browser.
  - SCHiM 11y ago
    Not impossible, very often I get the "Body of water" one, but I do seem to get a challenge every 10 minutes or so, in each new tab.
- ruraljuror 11y ago
  It's not speculation. It's section 2 of the paper, titled "Analyzing Risk Analysis System."
- rcthompson 11y ago
  I've experienced this first-hand. I used to always get the checkbox, but then one day I had to download a large series of related files from a website that used reCAPTCHA. I did all the clicking manually, but in a very repetitive and bot-like fashion, by opening a series of 10 new tabs at a time and then performing the same series of clicks on each tab to get to the download link. After a few minutes, I stopped getting checkboxes and started getting increasingly more difficult CAPTCHA challenges.
nv-vn 11y ago
I can't find the original source, but the system for deciding whether to just show a check box or not was super complicated.Back around a year and a half ago when it was first released, some people on 4chan's technology board (/g/) were frustrated because they'd repeatedly be marked as suspicious (and never got the check box only) when posting on 4chan (which requires a captcha to be solved for each post). One user in particular was reverse engineering it and published a ton of super interesting stuff on Github (the levels of obfuscation were insane), but later got a job offer from Google (allegedly) in exchange for deleting it.

whichfawkes 11y ago

No, that's definitely what it is. It just also happens to be useful for blocking bots.

kevincox 11y ago

I'm pretty sure this is the advertised purpose of it. It stops bots AND helps machine learning.

kuschku 11y ago
*AND helps a company make profit by training their proprietary models. If they were open, it would be a lot better (considering all the training is done by volunteers, too)
- ant6n 11y ago
  I like to misidentify things to give them bad data.
  - kuschku 11y ago
    Well, I do the same. I won’t destroy any of their dataset, or even have a measurable impact – but in turn, I won’t have a measurable impact in positive direction either. If they want to make a profit from me, they should pay me, or they can license correct CAPTCHA results from me under GPL.
    - mehta 11y ago
      This argument doesn't really make sense to me. What browser, OS and device are you using to post this comment? Someone made profit when you bought the device, bought the OS and/or browser. A healthy system needs some kind of motivation. In economies, that is profits/money. What's wrong with that? (I know I am being simplistic here but...)
      - deelowe 11y ago
        Napster, torrents, and the free internet warped an entire generation's perspective on things. This sort of "everything should be free" attitude isn't going away any time soon.
      - 11y ago

fabiofumarola 11y ago

I agree with you