Crowdsourcing is the outsourcing of a task to a large group of people as an open call. Amazon Mechanical Turk (or mTurk for short) posts a variety of paying tasks which are usually short and simple jobs that cannot be done by computers. The payout for each task is generally minimal, but revenues accumulate in an Amazon account to be claimed at any time.
Origin of the Name ‘Mechanical Turk’
Mechanical Turk’s unusual name is derived from Wolfganag von Kempelen’s “the Turk,” a chess-playing automaton that toured Europe in the 1700s. After beating many notable figures at chess games, it was discovered that “the Turk” was actually a human chess expert concealed in a secret compartment. Mechanical Turk’s name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to this type of “artificial artificial intelligence.”
Types of Jobs on Mechanical Turk
Mechanical Turk is a general marketplace for almost any kind of task imaginable. HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) often found on mTurk include:
- transcribing audio or text
- writing articles and summaries
- re-writing/paraphrasing sentences, paragraphs, and articles
- image tagging (identifying objects in a picture)
- posting comments to blogs
- writing reviews of movies, products, or services
- researching details on various topics
- answering questions
- taking short surveys
- signing up for outside sites and accounts
Completing HITs on Mechanical Turk
To be a Mechanical Turk worker (or ‘Turker’), you must first sign up for a free account with Amazon. You are then able to browse and search for available HITs. After reading the instructions for a HIT, you can choose to accept or skip that task. Turkers are assigned a time limit for completion of HITs they've accepted, and must submit them when finished.
Getting Paid through Mechanical Turk
After the requestor of the work approves the job you’ve done, you can be paid for each HIT. Revenues accumulate in your Amazon account until you wish to transfer them to either your bank account or Amazon.com gift certificate balance. Most HITs have a very low payout – sometimes literally pennies.
Pros of Working with Mechanical Turk
- Allows you to work from home
- Fits around your schedule, 24 hours a day
- Lets you choose what HITs to accept
- Bonuses available for good work
- Occasionally a Turker receives direct contact from requestors with larger volumes of work
Cons of Working with Mechanical Turk
- Low payout
- Amazon doesn’t mediate conflicts between requestors and workers
- Requires bank information if you don't want payment in the form of Amazon.com gift certificates
Per hour, Turkers generally make less than minimum wage, but payout adds up nonetheless. Mechanical Turk earnings can’t substitute for a regular salary, but it’s a good choice for those looking to make a little money on the side in their free time from home.
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