 |
Amazon Mechanical Turk - Humans Help Slow Computers
Amazon recently introduced a new program called Amazon Mechanical Turk. This program provides a web services API (a programmer's toolkit) for letting computers enlist the aid of humans for those tasks that humans are good at (and computers are not).
(18th Century Mechanical Turk)
..humans still significantly outperform the most powerful computers at completing such simple tasks as identifying objects in photographs – something children can do even before they learn to speak.When we think of interfaces between human beings and computers, we usually assume that the human being is the one requesting that a task be completed, and the computer is completing the task and providing the results. What if this process were reversed and a computer program could ask a human being to perform a task and return the results?
...Developers use the Amazon Mechanical Turk web services API to submit tasks to the Amazon Mechanical Turk web site, approve completed tasks, and incorporate the answers into their software applications... A network of humans fuels this Artificial Intelligence by coming to the web site, searching for and completing tasks, and receiving payment for their work.
Amazon's program is named after a famous hoax of the 18th century (see picture above). The "Mechanical Turk" was presented as an autonomous machine that could play chess; in fact, it had a secret compartment that hid a chess master who operated the dummy.
In his 1995 novel The Calcutta Chromosome, Amitav Ghosh writes about an artificial intelligence named Ava that is exactly like the Amazon Mechanical Turk application - and about the human beings who perform exactly the same kind of tasks:
Antar had met children who were like that: Why? What? When? Where? How? But children asked because they were curious; with these AVA/Iie systems it was something else - something that he could only think of as a simulated urge for self-improvement. ..She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever [picture] that she was playing with on her screen… Once she'd wrung the last meaningless detail out of him, she'd give the object on her screen a final spin, with a bizarrely human smugness, before propelling it into horizonless limbo of her memory.
(Read more about Ava)
At present, it appears that the program is aimed at relatively low value tasks, like identifying objects in pictures. However, as applications move up the value chain, who knows what machines might ask people to do for them?
Read more at Amazon. If you are interested in the earliest mention of a chess-playing robot in sf, see autonomous chess playing robot from a story published in 1910 by Ambrose Bierce.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/14/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Eureqa Artificially Intelligent Computer Scientist
This artificial intelligence program is available for download; it was developed using some of the characteristics of the introspective starfish robot.
Hopfield Neural Net Helper AIs For Astronauts
Wouldn't it be nice to have a kind of 'helper' AI that could go with you and notice things that you don't?
Computer, Heal Thyself - With ClearView
When you can read about an idea fifty years before it's implemented (and in an entertaining story to boot), that's good value.
Emily Howell - The Computer Is The Composer
Updated with new reference! Keep an eye out for the new CD by an artificially intelligent composer named Emily Howell.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Put MercuryHouseOne Anywhere
Perhaps looking out through the spray of Victoria Falls.
Computational Wood: Grow Circuits In Living Trees
Just tap into the information tree.
SIRI Virtual Assistant Like Pohl's Joymaker
Man Forrester! Your joymaker is ready.
Liquid Glass Universal Spray-On Protectant
Also used to protect galactic way stations.
WIND Wearable Robot Controller
Robot wirelessly sense, robot do.
Gesture Cube Touch-Free Input
Just think of the gestures you'll use!
IMPASS Robot 'Smart Wheel' Video
I love it when good robot research comes together.
Predator, Prey Robots Evolve
Humanity must make a choice about robot evolution.
Mind-Control Lights At Vancouver Olympics
Bringing The Game to the Olympic Games.
PALRO Companion Robot
Who's your favorite companion robot?
Wasabi Smoke Alarm Now Available
It's an odalarm!
Spyder Olympic GS Suit With d3o
An impact suit made with a shear thickening material.
First Transistor That Mimics Brain Synapse
The Nexus Six phone will need a Nexus-6 brain.
Legged Squad Support System Monster BigDog Robot
A robotic pack mule for soldiers.
Implantable Energy-Harvesting Rubber Sheets
Take a deep breath, and power up that cell phone!
Bose Ride System Smooths Your Ride
Ride the spaceways - uh, roads - in comfort.
