zlacker

[parent] [thread] 4 comments
1. zvqcMM+(OP)[view] [source] 2026-02-03 11:53:11
Amazon's Mechanical Turk exists since 2005, so we are 20 years in the future
replies(2): >>oytis+i1 >>albert+qK
2. oytis+i1[view] [source] 2026-02-03 12:02:46
>>zvqcMM+(OP)
Mechanical Turk was for humans to rent a human, which is not a new idea
replies(1): >>notpus+66
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3. notpus+66[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-03 12:32:00
>>oytis+i1
mTurk has an API (and I guess it had it since the beginning). It is, of course, very AWS-que, but LLMs should be able to use it just fine.

∗ ∗ ∗

> which is not a new idea

I don’t think “[x] but for agents” counts as a new idea for every [x]. I’d say it’s just one new idea, at most.

replies(1): >>vidarh+59
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4. vidarh+59[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-03 12:53:52
>>notpus+66
I mean, the entire name of Mechanical Turk plays on "packaging up humans as technology", given the original Mechanical Turk was a "machine" where the human inside did the work.
5. albert+qK[view] [source] 2026-02-03 16:02:16
>>zvqcMM+(OP)
MechanicalTurk is for desk jobs and for tasks that originate as ideas in a human mind -- even if they get routed via an API.

Here we are talking about AI agents coming up with a set of tasks as part of their thinking/reasoning step ..and when some of those tasks are real world physical tasks, assign them to a willing human being.

Those tasks wont necessarily be desk jobs or knowledge work.

It could be say -- go chop a tree, or go wave a protest banner, or go flip the open/close sign on my shopfront, or go and preach crustafarianism.

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