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Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

clivethompson.medium.com

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Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#161

Post by LukeShu »

mkl wrote: post #125
pkulak wrote: post #36

I'd say it's because the North America, car-dominated, strip-mall-and-stroad landscape is depressing as hell. Open a map and drop yourself somewhere in Europe. I just did, and I feel like identifying crosswalks in a photo like this wouldn't be depressing at all: https://i.imgur.com/31AgNvs.png

I didn't understand "stroad" so I looked it up: > "Stroad" is a word we coined in 2013 to explain those dangerous, multi-laned thoroughfares you encounter in nearly every city, town, and suburb in America. They're what happens when a street (a place where people interact with businesses and residences, and where wealth is produced) gets combined with a road (a high-speed route between productive places). -- https://w…

That's not a distinction I've ever encountered (from Indiana, US). I'd have said they were interchangeable, but if you told me there was a difference, and asked me what it was, my best guess would have been that a street is urban and a road is rural, just based on experience with whether something tends to be named "XXX St" or "XXX Rd". Wiktionary tells me that a street is within a single city/town, while a road runs between cities/towns, which I guess seems about right to me?

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#162

Post by throwawayint4 »

crazygringo wrote: post #78
mixedCase wrote: post #59

I've read the whole article, and I see so many comments agreeing or even adding detail to the post. Am I really in the minority if this kind of thing couldn't even cross my mind or feels like written by someone living in a parallel universe? A few poorly shot street photos are "unbearably depressing"? And there's even a detailed explanation breaking it down into points, each one feeling more alien than the last. They…

It's for this very reason I'm so happy to see something like this article on HN, and I'm so happy to see your comment too. I think I know exactly where you're coming from -- I was exactly the same way when I was younger. I was 100% extremely logical, and my emotional awareness was... exceedingly underdeveloped. Long story short, I got into different artistic pursuits where I was forced to develop my emotional awarene…

Your last paragraph, could you expand? Seems like each time I get close to “color” I get pulled back to “black and white.” It’s clear there is an emotional intelligence not possessed, but usually only _after_ the opportunity to learn has passed.

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#163

Post by johnsolo1701 »

OJFord wrote: post #55
rickboyce wrote: post #3

For me this effect is significantly compounded by not being from the US / North America. This has come up on HN before (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25226805 ) but it still strikes me as so odd that you need quite a bit of USA cultural / vernacular knowledge to navigate the internet anywhere in the world (or at least English speaking sites?). What a strange view into another country to see each day!

I was going to vehemently agree and start ranting, but I see you've linked a submission that already has enough of me ranting! Ha. I'll only add that sometimes it annoys me so much I want to create my own 'Britcha' out of spite. Perhaps if I ever run some really popular site I shall: 'select all pubs', 'arrange the squares in order of social class', 'type the word that describes an ordered collection of people waitin…

Would totally make sense - when visiting .co.uk sites!

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#164

Post by mkl »

mrkramer wrote: post #143
mkl wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy for a bot to provide a pre-recorded or generated video of someone waving, and pronouncing a sentence is much harder for many humans than for bots. I don't think having to prove you're human will ever be a happy experience.

Captcha is served over browsers and browsers and websites can easily detect webcam device and process video recording. The same applies for mic and voice recording. If webcam or mic is not detected and webcam recording or mic recording was given then obviously malicious actor is trying to cheat the captcha and submit fake recording/s. Edit: You would be prompted with something like: "Wave your hand from left to right…

It's easy to make hardware or software virtual mics and cameras that can't be detected as such. Getting that pronunciation task right will be easier for a bot using TTS through a virtual mic than for many non-native English speakers.

A bigger problem is that once you've given some random site permission to access your mic or camera, it can use that access for anything it wants.

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#165

Post by Zababa »

johnsolo1701 wrote: post #160
Zababa wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say exactly the same thing. Some things are really confusion when you're not from the US. I think it's a problem with internet in general, as many people speaks english and thus people from the USA think everyone is from here.

Just to share the American perspective, it feels like this: Many people speak English, and thus it is difficult/impossible for people from outside the US to discern the difference between domestic and international services. (Not saying Google is a domestic service obviously.) Through historical chance, we don't have the luxury and benefits of a native language like many of you reading this right now.

I don't really understand what you mean by this. Do you have any example? Is it something like not knowing if an online store is international or domestic? Because in that case we face the same issue, when I see a store in English I'm not sure it'll ship to Europe, and often doesn't.

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#166

Post by woofster »

crazygringo wrote: post #78
mixedCase wrote: post #59

I've read the whole article, and I see so many comments agreeing or even adding detail to the post. Am I really in the minority if this kind of thing couldn't even cross my mind or feels like written by someone living in a parallel universe? A few poorly shot street photos are "unbearably depressing"? And there's even a detailed explanation breaking it down into points, each one feeling more alien than the last. They…

It's for this very reason I'm so happy to see something like this article on HN, and I'm so happy to see your comment too. I think I know exactly where you're coming from -- I was exactly the same way when I was younger. I was 100% extremely logical, and my emotional awareness was... exceedingly underdeveloped. Long story short, I got into different artistic pursuits where I was forced to develop my emotional awarene…

jeez take your meds schizo

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#167

Post by WorldPeas »

C19is20 wrote: post #84
mixedCase wrote: post #59

I've read the whole article, and I see so many comments agreeing or even adding detail to the post. Am I really in the minority if this kind of thing couldn't even cross my mind or feels like written by someone living in a parallel universe? A few poorly shot street photos are "unbearably depressing"? And there's even a detailed explanation breaking it down into points, each one feeling more alien than the last. They…

> I've read the whole article, and I see so many comments agreeing or even adding detail to the post. Am I really in the minority if this kind of thing couldn't even cross my mind or feels like written by someone living in a parallel universe? > A few poorly shot street photos are "unbearably depressing"? And there's even a detailed explanation breaking it down into points, each one feeling more alien than the last.…

I'll second this seconding(third it?) I cannot for the life of me understand how these photos can invoke dread, perhaps something in their burgerpunk nature, but still i think the more saddening part is that people still use captchas from google!

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#168

Post by iratewizard »

chrismcb wrote: post #149
crazygringo wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's for this very reason I'm so happy to see something like this article on HN, and I'm so happy to see your comment too. I think I know exactly where you're coming from -- I was exactly the same way when I was younger. I was 100% extremely logical, and my emotional awareness was... exceedingly underdeveloped. Long story short, I got into different artistic pursuits where I was forced to develop my emotional awarene…

I'm trying to understand this comment. But it seems to me it boils down to "spend time to learn how to be depressed by the world around you." That doesn't seem like a skill the average person should want or need. There is something with with society if you have to spend time of hours of practice to get "emotional intelligence" from common place items that have no inherent meaning.

Depression isn't the only emotion you feel when you stop being disconnected from the world. You may come out of it with a greater appreciation for nature, art, literature, etc. You may even have more pride in your work as you become capable of developing a design language and incorporating it into what you build.

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#169

Post by mkl »

LukeShu wrote: post #161
mkl wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't understand "stroad" so I looked it up: > "Stroad" is a word we coined in 2013 to explain those dangerous, multi-laned thoroughfares you encounter in nearly every city, town, and suburb in America. They're what happens when a street (a place where people interact with businesses and residences, and where wealth is produced) gets combined with a road (a high-speed route between productive places). -- https://w…

That's not a distinction I've ever encountered (from Indiana, US). I'd have said they were interchangeable, but if you told me there was a difference, and asked me what it was, my best guess would have been that a street is urban and a road is rural, just based on experience with whether something tends to be named "XXX St" or "XXX Rd". Wiktionary tells me that a street is within a single city/town, while a road runs…

Okay, "street" being urban is a thing in NZ. The thing you drive on to get from one city to another is never a street. Within a city though, "road" and "street" seem the same.

Re: Captcha pictures force you to look at the world the way an AI does

#170

Post by JoeyJoJoJr »

kbutler wrote: post #151
JoeyJoJoJr wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the minor disturbance is the article and the outsized reaction is calling it a “soul destroying burden”. I’m primarily a software dev, but clients mostly value my skills in producing visually pleasing layouts and graphics. I’ve come to realise that good aesthetics are extremely valued by most. Even during the development process, nice looking layouts/design integrated early can immensely lift the team’s spiri…

So Unbearably Depressing / force you / hate / deeply, overwhelmingly depressing / spirits deflate And that's just the intro. Skip to the end: "These pictures erode the soul."

Fair enough, I didn’t really explain my point very well.

I interpreted the authors choice of words more as an emotional critique of things like composition, colors, etc.

If I saw some poorly written code, and I happened to say, “this code destroys my soul” as a figure of speech. Most people would understand that I just have an intense distaste for the code, not I am not having an existential crisis.

From an artistic sense, if I analysed a single frame from the first scene of the Shining, I might use similar language to the author, even though objectively it is just a car on a road.

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