Not quite artificial intelligence
Amazon has just released an iPhone app in time for every retailer's favourite shopping season.
As you can imagine it lets you browse and search the Amazon site from the comfort of your iPhone.
Where it gets interesting is the app also includes an Amazon Remembers feature.
This lets you take a photo of something with your iPhone which the app will match to the item on the Amazon database.
Sounds amazing doesn't it?
Well guess what - It's all done using Amazon's Mechanical Turk.
The Mechanical Turk is what Amazon calls its artificial artificial intelligence.
No that's not a typo.
Their artificial intelligence isn't artificial at all. It's human!
In fact it's a bunch of people who look at the iPhone pics, work out what the product is that has been photographed, then go looking for it on Amazon.
Who'd have thought such a seemingly high tech service would be so dependent on a bunch ordinary folks looking to make a dollar?
If you fancy a stint as a Mechanical Turk click here to find out more.
posted by Stan Lee at 4:30 pm
6 Comments:
thanks for spotting.
also props for 'Ogden's' a firm favourite round these parts too.
it's like the postman who deliver our email inside the internet
Humans! Genius! Why did no-one ever think of it before? Compare and contrast with Ikea.co.uk's 'Ask Anna' online 'help desk'. You're faced with a picture of a lady with a headset and a chat window, but it just looks for key words in your question and comes back with incredibly unhelpful advice. Brilliant. Not only have you not been able to help. You've also pissed me off and wasted my time. (Not you, Stan, Ikea.)
Oops! Forgot to mention my coleague Clark Vincent tipped me off to this.
He's one of the smartest data boys I've ever met. He's just started twittering. Here's his link:
http://twitter.com/clarkevincent
"look toto I see the man behind the curtian!"
Amazon....totally ashamed to say they still do things the old-fashioned way. Ya know ...WITH HUMANS.
This is sweet. Wonder if they outsource it via www.odesk.com.
Dig Kate's comment. "It's like the postman who deliver our email inside the internet."
Mark
Digital strategy on Twitter
Post a Comment
<< Home