Crowdsource (app)

Crowdsource includes different types of tasks, and these each provide Google with different information that it can give as training data to its machine learning algorithms. In the app's description on Google Play, Google refers to these tasks as "microtasks" which should take "no more than 5-10 seconds" to complete.[6]

Crowdsource is also available as a web application. It offers many of the same tasks, such as image transcription, translation, and translation validation, and includes a page for users to view their achievements, much like the Android application. Unlike the Android version, the Crowdsource website includes a task for validation image captions, but does not have the handwriting recognition, sentiment evaluation, and image capture tasks available.[6][14] The Crowdsource website also hosts a "Picture Quest Game", where two users see 2 pictures, only one of which is shared between the two users.[14] The two players must communicate, asking each other questions about the image to determine which image is "shared" between them.[14]

On release, many reviewers found the app's lack of monetary rewards unusual, due to the fact that Google has a similar app, Google Opinion Rewards, which offers Google Play store credits after completing short surveys.[5][3][4] An August 2016 review from Android Pit noted that "this reliance on altruism [is] a little strange given that Google already has an app, Google Opinion Rewards, which has a financial incentive for user feedback. It works slightly differently, but I don't see why the same reward scheme could not be applied." The review also expressed concern with this model, citing that users would be less likely to complete these tasks without more substantial rewards, writing that Crowdsource is "banking on the kind nature of its users", and asking "How are users, who generally want everything free and without adverts, going to respond to this in the long-term? Why would they rate this app highly, when the results are so nebulous?"[5] A review from Wired shared similar concerns, writing "while Google is being open about its motivations, it will be difficult for users to know what difference their contributions make."[13]

On Crowdsource's FAQ page, Google addresses this question of "Will I get paid for my answers?", answering, "No. Crowdsource is a community effort – we rely on the goodwill of community members to help improve the quality of services such as Google Maps, Google Translate, and others, so that everybody in the world can benefit".[15] In an August 2016 review, CNET noted that Google's statement in Crowdsource's description, "Every time you use it, you know that you've made the internet a better place for your community.", is not accurate, stating that Google does not offer free access to Google Maps and Google Translate data.[16] A review from TechCrunch also noted that Crowdsource is "solely focused on helping Google improve its own services," contrasting it with Amazon Mechanical Turk, which focuses on tasks from third parties.[3]

An April 2018 interview in Wired stated that Google's machine learning algorithms work best in the United States and Western Europe, but are less effective in less prosperous countries. In this interview Anurag Batra, a product manager at Google who leads the Crowdsource team, shared Google's motivations behind the Crowdsource app, stating that Google has "very sparse training data set from parts of the world that are not the United States and Western Europe,”[13] According to Wired, Google has a team that promotes the Crowdsource app in India and throughout Asia at colleges, and will likely expand to Latin America later in 2018.[13] In a blog post on Local Guides Connect, Batra explains why Crowdsource is helpful to Google, detailing that the questions that Crowdsource asks users are designed to collect better samples of data to feed their machine learning algorithms.[2]

Google uses the answers provided by users of Crowdsource, and validates them by showing them anonymously to other Crowdsource users.[17] According to Google, once answers are validated, they are used to "train computer algorithms that run services such as Google Translate, Google Maps, Android Keyboard, and others."[17]

A brief on Cio Dive stated that an "accurate data set is critical" to the success of new technologies such as voice assistants and autonomous vehicles.[18] The brief also notes that companies like Google and IBM are well positioned in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning due to the volume of data available to them to train and develop advanced AI.[18]

• Amazon Mechanical Turk
• Google Opinion Rewards

• Official website