Feb 15, 2009
reCaptchas Getting Harder?
Is it just me or are the text renderings in reCaptcha getting harder and harder to make out? Some of them are absolutely inscrutable. Take this for example:
I mean, seriously, I can make out “explored” but what the heck is the first word supposed to be?
Hi,
I’m the chief engineer on reCAPTCHA. Sometimes, the word we are trying to digitize from a book is hard to read, which is why it shows up. We’re always working to only show words where reCAPTCHA users input useful information — eg words that the computer had trouble with but that humans are able to do well on.
– Ben
Btw, I forgot to mention — this is something we’re specifically working on now. You should see some improvements in the next few days, then more in the coming weeks.