You may have never heard of it, but Mechanical Turk is an Amazon service used by some of the largest companies in the world. Today we break down what it is and how it works.
What is Mechanical Turk?
Mechanical Turk is a marketplace founded by Amazon in 2005 that allows companies and organizations to publish tasks that workers, known as turkersthey can complete remotely in exchange for compensation predetermined by the company.
You could say that turkers work as freelancers who provide punctual services to different companies when they require it, so that they can spend their time on more beneficial projects and tasks. Its name comes from an invention of the eighteenth centurythe , which was a “false” chess-playing automaton that amazed emperors and aristocrats around the world.
What kind of tasks are offered?
Tasks posted to Mechanical Turk are called Human Intelligence Tasks (HIT) and they are usually tasks repetitive and mechanical with a low level of difficulty that artificial intelligence is complex and costly to perform.
Some most common tasks are:
- Identification and labeling of images and videos
- Collection of information and conducting surveys
- Text and audio transcription
- Verification of information and cleaning of databases
Tasks are posted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so the number of offers is high and constant.
What requirements must turkers meet?
To be able to request tasks in Amazon Mechanical Turk you must know English, register on the platform and take a series of unpaid tests in order to validate your qualification and speedto then be able to choose your own tasks.
The competition for the highest paying jobs is fierce and for this many turkers use series of commands and free tools like . According to , the platform has 500,000 turkers, a figure very far from reality according to a New York University, which estimates that the real figure is between 100,000 and 200,000 users, most of whom reside in the US and India.
When payments are made, American turkers can receive the money in their bank accounts while turkers from other countries like India normally receive the payments in the form of Amazon gift cards.
Can you live like a turker?
The price of each task is set by the bidding company and although it depends on the type of task performed, most of the tasks offered offer a remuneration between $0.01 and $0.10 USDwith an average duration of between one and two hours per task.
Even though the pay is low, thousands of people use the platform to earn extra money and some even dedicate themselves professionally to it. The scarcity of better job opportunities and the flexibility of being able to perform tasks from home are the main reasons that lead users to join the platform.
Mechanical Turk, focus of controversy
Mechanical Turk has generated much controversy for the low pay, unpaid and offensive content found. The amounts paid for each task are derisory and a professional turker working full time will hardly be able to reach the minimum wage.
In addition, the payment for completing tasks depends solely and directly on the bidding company, which can deny compensation to the worker arguing some error in the execution of the task. , as well as no explanation from the companieswho usually hide their identity under an alias, thus making it difficult to trace.
Amazon takes a commission of at least 20% of the price paid for each task, and it is rumored that many bidders decide not to pay several of their workers to compensate for the giant’s commission.
In terms of content, various turkers have reported on the platform as violent images and sexist or racist descriptions. Amazon has been subject to accusations of turkers and much attacked by the presswho criticizes the company for promoting this type of work and the lack of transparency on the platform.
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