Google streamlines Captcha, makes it easier to prove you're a human
Google is removing some of the friction from web browsing by automating its Captcha service, a tool designed to identify and block bot traffic often used on ecommerce sites and more.
The ‘Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’ program (Captcha) required web users to use identify text and images to separate them from bots – this intelligence should be enough to differentiate web users from automated web traffic (although artificial intelligence is capable of preparing bots for image recognition tasks).
The relaunched service, reCaptcha, now requires users to confirm their humanity status by clicking a ‘I’m not a robot’ node – challenges will only be afforded to users exhibiting the suspicious browsing behavior of bots, reports Google.
Google issued a statement: “reCaptcha uses an advanced risk analysis engine and adaptive Captchas to keep automated software from engaging in abusive activities on your site. It does this while letting your valid users pass through with ease.
“reCaptcha offers more than just spam protection. Every time our Captchas are solved, that human effort helps digitize text, annotate images, and build machine learning datasets. This in turn helps preserve books, improve maps, and solve hard AI problems."