It looks like CAPTCHA has met its match as new research is proving the challenge can easily be solved by AI models on each instance.
A trio of researchers located in Switzerland set out to see how great AI models were and whether or not they could compete with Google’s reCAPTCHAv2 human testing model. Certainly, each challenge was a unique concept and was harder than the next.
The findings revealed that the processing model could solve CAPTCHA each time it made an attempt. You can even download the study from a preprint server to read more about how the experiment was set up from start to finish.
Over the past couple of decades, website administrators found new techniques that could stop autonomous bots from getting access and causing issues. One of the techniques used was dubbed Compete Automated Public Turing which differentiates humans from computers. This is what gave rise to the CAPTCHA phenomenon.
Then in 2007, we saw Google roll out its own variant of the applet and the new update dubbed reCAPTCHAv2. Similar to other challenges, it needed users to press on designated pictures before they could pass to the next step of getting access.
In this study, the authors found that it did not take a lot of effort at all to alter the AI models that gave it the capability to go above and beyond Google’s CAPTCHA. All they needed to do was alter the YOLO model to better recognize subjects used by the reCAPTCHAv2. This included the likes of traffic signals, cars, bridges, and more. After that, it was trained on pictures of similar objects.
In the trial, we saw how the model didn’t even need to be 100% accurate as multiple attempts were allowed like regular CAPTCHAs. As a result, the model passed the test each time, even if it was not in a single attempt. A unique finding revealed how even when models failed on the initial pictures, they would pass on the second ones.
So what does this mean? CAPTCHAs are really not as safe as developers and experts presume them to be. Moreover, another shocking finding in the study is how the model could fool even the CAPTCHAs themselves with new features like browser history or activities like mouse tracking. Hence, next time you feel CAPTCHAs can fool AI, think again!
Read next: TikTok Takes Search Ambitions To New Level With The Launch Of its Search Ads Campaign
A trio of researchers located in Switzerland set out to see how great AI models were and whether or not they could compete with Google’s reCAPTCHAv2 human testing model. Certainly, each challenge was a unique concept and was harder than the next.
The findings revealed that the processing model could solve CAPTCHA each time it made an attempt. You can even download the study from a preprint server to read more about how the experiment was set up from start to finish.
Over the past couple of decades, website administrators found new techniques that could stop autonomous bots from getting access and causing issues. One of the techniques used was dubbed Compete Automated Public Turing which differentiates humans from computers. This is what gave rise to the CAPTCHA phenomenon.
Then in 2007, we saw Google roll out its own variant of the applet and the new update dubbed reCAPTCHAv2. Similar to other challenges, it needed users to press on designated pictures before they could pass to the next step of getting access.
In this study, the authors found that it did not take a lot of effort at all to alter the AI models that gave it the capability to go above and beyond Google’s CAPTCHA. All they needed to do was alter the YOLO model to better recognize subjects used by the reCAPTCHAv2. This included the likes of traffic signals, cars, bridges, and more. After that, it was trained on pictures of similar objects.
In the trial, we saw how the model didn’t even need to be 100% accurate as multiple attempts were allowed like regular CAPTCHAs. As a result, the model passed the test each time, even if it was not in a single attempt. A unique finding revealed how even when models failed on the initial pictures, they would pass on the second ones.
So what does this mean? CAPTCHAs are really not as safe as developers and experts presume them to be. Moreover, another shocking finding in the study is how the model could fool even the CAPTCHAs themselves with new features like browser history or activities like mouse tracking. Hence, next time you feel CAPTCHAs can fool AI, think again!
Read next: TikTok Takes Search Ambitions To New Level With The Launch Of its Search Ads Campaign
