ADVERTISEMENT

There’s something mildly dispiriting about being asked to identify blurry fire hydrants, distorted crosswalks, virtually unidentifiable parking meters, and bent traffic lights arranged to look nothing like they do in real life. But hey, Captcha, officially known as Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, is simply doing its job.

The question remains why proving you’re not a robot causes so much irritation. No wonder people on social media are posting their daily Captcha struggles and finding many like-minded souls who feel like showing a computer you’re human is one heck of a mission.

So, let’s dive into some of the most painfully relatable examples below that prove that if you’re overthinking “select all squares with traffic lights,” you’re defo not the only one.

#1

Captcha-Struggles-Fails

uwaiis__ Report

Add photo comments
POST
finfrosk avatar
Tor Rolf Strøm
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, but uhm.. what is the correct way to deal with this? is that square legit or not!?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#3

Are You F**king Serious?

Are you friggin serious?

dc808 Report

Add photo comments
POST
jmscargill avatar
Scagsy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the top boss at the end of the game. No beating it. Cheat codes?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Bored Panda reached out to David Grout, Chief Technical Officer at FireEye, to find out more about CAPTCHA and just how it's gotten so difficult in the past few years. David explained that CAPTCHA is "a method for determining whether a website user is real or a spam robot."

This tool is designed to "ensure that website traffic is coming from human interaction either through number, letter, or image recognition to avoid robots connecting to the website or another type of online resource." David said that CAPTCHA tests were inspired by Turing Test techniques created by Alan Turing, and that their title means “Completely Automated Public Turing Test.”

In the early 2000s, CAPTCHA technology was developed with the intention of stopping automated spam activity. Meanwhile, in 2017, Google created its first version of reCAPTCHA that required the user to identify word/character problems. The idea was that these words would be intuitive and easy for humans to identify, but because of their visual alterations, computer systems would struggle.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, according to David, hackers are always trying to find ways to trick security barriers such as this. “Several techniques exist and CAPTCHA is becoming more complex to prevent it being bypassed.”

And if you’re still wondering whether it’s only you who can’t get those blurry traffic lights right, David assures us that CAPTCHA has indeed become more complex and difficult to use as part of the efforts to avoid it being bypassed. “Like with other areas of IT, the constant evolution of a tool like this can impact the user experience,” he concluded.

#7

To Click Or Not To Click

To click or not to click

reddit.com Report

#8

So, The First Square Counts Or Not...?

So, the first square counts or not...?

reddit.com Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#9

Recaptcha Really Has An Issue With Thinking Mailboxes Are Parking Meters. Also Can't Skip.

Recaptcha really has an issue with thinking mailboxes are parking meters. Also can't skip

reddit.com Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda

But it soon turned out separating the bot from the human is a challenge on its own. But Shuman Ghosemajumder, who worked at Google combating click fraud before becoming the chief technology officer of the bot-detection company Shape Security, told The Verge that “game CAPTCHAs, video CAPTCHAs, whatever sort of CAPTCHA test you devise will eventually be broken.”

Instead, he suggests something called “continuous authentication.” It would primarily look at the behavior of a human user and would detect signs of automation. “A real human being doesn’t have very good control over their own motor functions, and so they can’t move the mouse the same way more than once over multiple interactions, even if they try really hard,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shuman stated that a bot interacts with a page without the need to move a mouse, therefore this precise action of moving the mouse is something that could be identified as a primarily human trait and would be hard to spoof.

#13

F U Captcha

reddit.com Report

Add photo comments
POST
nadinebamberger avatar
Nadine Bamberger
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's one behind the truck, trying to take over and one just behind the trees. It's a secret test created by the government to find all the psychics in the land.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#14

Captcha Level 11

Captcha level 11

reddit.com Report

#15

I Was At Least Able To Refresh For A New Image

I was at least able to refresh for a new image

reddit.com Report

Add photo comments
POST
hard2guesss avatar
Bender Bending Rodríguez
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From personal experience, you just click verify and it will either pass you or give you a new captcha but I am just a robot so I might be wrong.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#16

Captcha Thinks Mailboxes Are Parking Meters

Captcha thinks mailboxes are parking meters

reddit.com Report

Add photo comments
POST
a_m_pierre avatar
A.M. Pierre
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All of these things (like the slightly overhanging pictures into adjacent slides or unclear images) affect me like true and false questions did in school. "Well 99% of the time it's true, but I can think of one rare exception where it's false, so I should put false... but what if they're not wanting in depth analysis and only want what someone would think as an initial response... but what if that's what they're hoping I will do to try and trick me..... AAAAAGGGHHH!!!"

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu