reCAPTCHA: The Turing Test We Use Daily

It is amazing that we use some things so frequently that we forget to understand the mechanism behind them, like for every action a human body makes, our mind must fire a million of neurons and signal different parts of the body to complete that move. Similarly, very often we use the tool to distinguish humans from machines or bots I.e., reCAPTCHA, and most of us do not even give a thought to what that word means. So, let us first talk about what that acronym stands for:

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Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

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Yes, it is indeed a test based on the Turing test given by British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. The Turing Test is a concept in the field of artificial intelligence and philosophy of mind. Alan Turing proposed this test in his 1950 paper titled "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." The test is designed to assess a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human.

reCAPTCHA is a technology developed by Google that is primarily used to distinguish between human users and automated bots on the internet, particularly on websites and online services. The name "reCAPTCHA" is a combination of "CAPTCHA” and "re," which signifies a revision or improvement over the original CAPTCHA concept.

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There are two main versions of reCAPTCHA:

reCAPTCHA v2: This version presents users with challenges like checking a box to confirm they are not a robot or selecting specific images from a grid. These challenges are designed to be less intrusive and more user-friendly.

reCAPTCHA v3: In this version, there is no visible challenge presented to the user. Instead, reCAPTCHA v3 operates in the background and assigns a score to the user's interactions based on their behavior on the website. The score is used by the website owner to determine whether the user is likely a human or a bot. This version is less disruptive to the user experience but still provides security against automated bot attacks.

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How do reCAPTCHA tests with a single checkbox work?

Some reCAPTCHA tests simply prompt the user to check a box next to the statement, "I'm not a robot." However, the test is not the actual action of clicking the checkbox – it's everything leading up to the checkbox click.

This reCAPTCHA test takes into account the movement of the user's cursor as it approaches the checkbox. Even the most direct motion by a human has some amount of randomness on the microscopic level: tiny unconscious movements that bots can't easily mimic.

If the cursor's movement contains some of this unpredictability, then the test decides that the user is probably legitimate. The reCAPTCHA also may assess the cookies stored by the browser on a user's device and the device's history in order to tell if the user is likely to be a bot.

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If the test is still unable to determine whether or not the user is a human, it may present an additional challenge, such as the image recognition test described above. However, most of the time the user's cursor movements, cookies, and device history are conclusive enough.

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So next time you click on that captcha checkbox do remember Alan Turing and do remember me.

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