Google’s new algorithm can answer CAPTCHAs with 99.8% accuracy

CAPTCHA, the commonly employed security tool used by many websites to differentiate between humans and bots, isn’t completely impenetrable. Google has created an algorithm that can read and answer CAPTCHA fields with 99.8 percent accuracy, ZDNet reports. Developed by the Google Street View team, the algorithm was designed to help recognize characters on storefronts and street signs in blurry images. The algorithm is able to read 90 percent of street numbers, according to Google. 

Next time you want to post a comment on a blog or use an online contact form, chances are you’ll be confronted by a puzzle asking you to read some blurry and distorted text. Known as CAPTCHA, theses challenges are supposed to only be solvable by humans, in order to prevent unwanted bots from using web services. However, their days as a human-only pursuit could be numbered: Google has built its own automated system that can beat CAPTCHAs with 99.8 percent accuracy. The algorithm developed by Google researchers is being used by its Street View team to improve Google Maps, by helping to recognising characters in natural or blurry images — for example, the house numbers captured by the Street View cars in the course of gathering imagery for the mapping service.