Digital sweatshop

Microwork is a series of small tasks which together comprise a large unified project, and are completed by many people over the Internet. Microwork is considered the smallest unit of work in a virtual assembly line. It is most often used to describe tasks for which no efficient algorithm has been devised, and require human intelligence to complete reliably. The term was developed in 2008 by Leila Chirayath Janah of Samasource.

Microtasking is the process of splitting a large job into small tasks that can be distributed, over the Internet, to many people. Since the inception of microwork, many online services have been developed that specialize in different types of microtasking. Most of them rely on a large, voluntary workforce composed of Internet users from around the world.

Typical tasks offered are repetitive but not so simple that they can be automated. Good candidates for microtasks have the following characteristics:

It may also be known as ubiquitous human computing or human-based computation when focused on computational tasks that are too complex for distributed computing.

Microtasks are distinguished from macrotasks, which typically can be done independently. They require a fixed amount of time and they require a specialized skill.

The wage paid can range from a few cents per task to hundreds of dollars per project.

Amazon Mechanical Turk allows workers to choose and perform simple tasks online, reporting directly though the platform to receive payments in exchange. A task can be as complex as algorithm writing or as simple as labelling photos or videos, describing products, or transcribing scanned documents. Employers submit tasks and set their own payments, which are often pennies for each task. This crowdsourcing project was initiated by Amazon as a way for users to find duplicate webpages, and soon it became a service for individuals to contract computer programmers and other individuals to finish tasks that computers are unable to accomplish. Since then this project has expanded from its original form; nowadays, there are people who will complete various Mechanical Turk projects as extra income on the side.

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Wikipedia