Luis von Ahn, the man who created CAPTCHA (the little box into which all must copy letters and numbers to prove our humanity online), has recently introduced his next mission: a new website, Duolingo, that offers free language learning in exchange for users translating websites from the language they’re learning into their native language.
Based on the altruism of reCAPTCHA (which uses CAPTCHA to have users digitize books) and the programming in CAPTCHA, Duolingo aims to provide free language learning for everyone who is interested, while quickly and inexpensively translating websites into the main languages of the world.
Luis explains, in a humorously informative way, CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA, and Duolingo in the TEDTalk* below.
*TED is an organization that hosts conferences and talks that highlight “ideas worth spreading,” which it then does through its website.
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