Watch this incredible Ted Talk by Luis Von Ahn, who has an amazing idea to translate the web through massive online collaboration. Luis is one (Manuel Blum, Nicholas J Hopper, and John Langford is the rest of the team) of the inventors of the CAPTCHA test that we all recognize when we sign onto a site to post a comment, or do any other action that needs authentication that an actual human being is completing this act. Since computers are becoming more proficient every day, we are now using them in ways to help us monetize our activities without always sparing a thought to its morality. Hence, the need for CAPTCHA in all of its frustrating nuances.
Well, Luis is now working on another idea where the whole world can help, and it’s called Duolingo. It’ll allow the user to learn a language for free while also helping to translate actual sentences that need to be translated. So, we can now learn a language while providing a service for free, but also not having to pay astronomical fees just to obtain some sort of language class or program. Seems like a fair trade. One that is also taking us towards a new business model that seems much more democratic than the one we now use.
If you’re interested, Duolingo is currently in beta, so you can sign on early to become one of the testers who can also learn a language by translating a sentence. I just signed up. How about you? Go to www.duolingo.com to do so. It’ll be a blast, I’m sure! Absolutely genius!!!
