BBCcom_Content_Index_for_December_3_2024.txt
10_Modern_Mechanical_Turks_When_Automation_Is_Just_Humans_in_Disguise.txt
10 Modern ‘Mechanical Turks’: When Automation Is Just Humans in Disguise Skip to content Gizmodo Search Home Latest Tech Reviews Science io9 AI Deals Gizmodo Science Fair Artificial Intelligence 10 Modern ‘Mechanical Turks’: When Automation Is Just Humans in Disguise By Maxwell Zeff Published April 3,potawatomi bingo milwaukee wisconsin 2024 | Comments (22) | ?? Copied! A young boy in England operating a thread-making machine in 1909. Photo: Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive (Getty Images) Start Slideshow Several modern feats of automation have proven to be little more than humans in disguise. Amazon’s grocery stores ditched their “Just Walk Out” technology on Tuesday, though it turned out the automated checkout system included 1,000 reviewers in India. However, this is hardly the only example of times when automation breakthroughs were truly powered by human workers in hiding – a phenomenon known as “The Mechanical Turk.” The Mechanical Turk refers to a fraudulent chess-playing machine from the year 1770. It appeared to be an automated machine that could play a competitive chess match against any human. The machine was touted around the world for decades, amazing crowds as the first-ever automaton. However, it was later revealed to be an elaborate hoax, where a master chess player was hiding inside the machine. A drawing of the Mechanical Turk, which allowed a small, expert chess player to climb inside and play the game, posing as a machine. Photo: Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group (Getty Images) This idea came up again in the early 1800s in England but in a different way. As Brian Merchant describes in his book Blood in the Machine, clothing makers in England were replaced by new “automated” machines their employers introduced. However, while these machines didn’t require a skilled craftsman, they still needed small children (orphans) to operate them. So they weren’t quite automated, though they created a cheap, worse product that took the jobs of skilled clothing makers, who became known as “Luddites.” That brings us to today. In the era of artificial intelligence, there are some incredible examples of automation. However, there are also countless more automation hoaxes that are popping up. Tech companies are racing to appear on the cutting edge, implementing AI technologies before they’re actually ready. That means many companies are propping up phony AI models with human workers. Here are 10 modern examples of Mechanical Turks, when automation is really just humans in disguise. Daily Newsletter Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily. Select News from the future, delivered to your present. Select Please select your desired newsletters and submit your email to upgrade your inbox. Sign me up Leave this field empty if you're human: You May Also Like Tech NewsTech Policy The Trump Admin Is Suing Amazon for Tricking People Into Prime Subscriptions. Here’s How That Might Affect You The FTC is claiming that Amazon made cancelling a subscription tough on purpose. By Ece Yildirim Published September 22, 2025 Tech NewsArtificial Intelligence AI Medical Tools Provide Worse Treatment for Women and Underrepresented Groups Making human biases worse. By AJ Dellinger Published September 21, 2025 Tech NewsGadgets We Need to Talk About Smart Glasses Are we really ready for Meta's new Ray-Bans? By James Pero Published September 21, 2025 Tech NewsPolitics Big Tech Tells H-1B Workers Not to Leave Country Due to Trump’s New Policy Confusion and panic all around. By AJ Dellinger Published September 20, 2025 Tech NewsGadgets Live Updates From Meta Connect 2025 ?? Follow along with the Gizmodo crew as we cover everything Meta announces at its annual developer conference. We're expecting new smart glasses, upgrades to its AI models, and more. Raymond Wong, Kyle Barr, and James Pero Published September 19, 2025 Tech NewsGadgets Microsoft Is Torpedoing Xbox With Yet Another Price Hike It’s blaming today’s ‘macroeconomic environment,’ aka President Donald Trump. By Kyle Barr Published September 19, 2025 Latest news BLUETTI Portable Power Station Back at All-Time Low After Months, Stock May Not Last Till Prime Big Deal Days Kirk and Spock’s Original ‘Star Trek’ Uniforms Are Boldly Going Up for Auction Chicago’s Once-Disgusting River Just Hosted a Swimming Party Beats Studio Buds Are Nearly 50% Off, Apple’s Alternative That Costs a Fraction of AirPods Pro 3 Amazon Clears Out Leftover Stock of Roku Streaming Stick Plus 2025, Now Cheaper Than Prime Day Is James Gunn Teasing the Big Villain for ‘Man of Tomorrow’? Amazon Restocks This Mini PC (32GB RAM, 512GB SSD) at All-Time Low, Almost Free With a Redeemable Coupon How to Watch ‘Bluey’ Without a Streaming Service Gizmodo Science Fair 2025 Latest news BLUETTI Portable Power Station Back at All-Time Low After Months, Stock May Not Last Till Prime Big Deal Days 9/23/2025, 10:10 am Kirk and Spock’s Original ‘Star Trek’ Uniforms Are Boldly Going Up for Auction 9/23/2025, 10:00 am Chicago’s Once-Disgusting River Just Hosted a Swimming Party 9/23/2025, 9:45 am Beats Studio Buds Are Nearly 50% Off, Apple’s Alternative That Costs a Fraction of AirPods Pro 3 9/23/2025, 9:40 am Latest Reviews The Switch 2’s Game Ports Have Reached Their High-Water Mark 9/21/2025, 9:02 am iPhone 17 Review: The Best iPhone Value in Years 9/18/2025, 7:00 pm iPadOS 26 Review: iPads Will Never Be the Touchscreen Mac You Wanted 9/18/2025, 9:36 am iPhone 17 Pro Review: Practical Perfection With Two Capital P’s 9/17/2025, 3:32 pm ?? Sitemap Edición ES Ausgabe DE Edi??o PT Edition FR Accessibility Privacy Policy Terms of Use Advertising Reprints & Permissions Your Privacy Choices Product reviews We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites. ?2025 GIZMODO USA LLC. All rights reserved. Download Hub Best VPN Best Free VPN Best Cheap VPN NordVPN Review ExpressVPN Review PIA Review ProtonVPN Review Surfshark Review Super Bowl 2025 US Open 2024 Best Cloud Storage Best Web Hosting About Gizmodo Mode Follow us ?? Home Latest Tech Reviews Science io9 AI Deals Gizmodo Science Fair How to Tip Gizmodo About Gizmodo Download Hub Best VPN Best Free VPN Best Cheap VPN NordVPN Review ExpressVPN Review PIA Review ProtonVPN Review Surfshark Review Super Bowl 2025 US Open 2024 Best Cloud Storage Best Web Hosting About Gizmodo Mode Follow us ?? Cookies settings GizmodoWe and our 217 partners wish to store and access information on your devices (such as cookies and pixels), and collect personal data on this site to process it along with both known and future information (such as identifiers, browsing history, preferences, purchases, phone number, postal, IP and email addresses, precise geolocation, etc.).This is used to develop and provide you with services, content, commercial offers, and advertisements across your various devices and screens (including by email, mail, texts, phone, audio, and video), to personalize and measure them, and to conduct audience research and analysis.Use of Utiq technology powered by your telecom operatorWe, , use the Utiq technology for digital marketing or analytics (as described on this consent notice) based on your browsing activity across our website(s), listed here (only if you are using a supported internet connection provided by a participating telecom operator and consent on each website).The Utiq technology is privacy centric to give you choice and control.It uses an identifier created by your telecom operator based on your IP address and a telecom reference such as your telecom account (e.g., mobile number).The identifier is assigned to the internet connection, so anyone connecting their device and consenting to the Utiq technology will receive the same identifier. Typically:on a broadband connection (e.g., Wi-Fi), the marketing or analytics will be performed based on the browsing activities of consenting household members’.on mobile data, the marketing will be more personalised, as it will be based on the browsing of the individual mobile user only.You can withdraw this consent anytime via "Manage Utiq" at the bottom of this site or in Utiq’s privacy portal (“consenthub”). For more, see Utiq's privacy statement.You can "accept all" and withdraw your consent at any time via the "cookies" footer link. You can also "set detailed preferences" to object to more limited processing activities. These choices remain valid for 6 months.powered bySirdataSet your choicesAccept all
