The Mechanical Turk refers to a fraudulent chess-playing machine from the year 1770.
It appeared to be an automated machine that could play a competitive chess match against any human.
The machine was touted around the world for decades, amazing crowds as the first-ever automaton.
A young boy in England operating a thread-making machine in 1909.Photo: Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive (Getty Images)
This idea came up again in the early 1800s in England but in a different way.
That brings us to today.
In the era of artificial intelligence, there are some incredible examples of automation.
A drawing of the Mechanical Turk, which allowed a small, expert chess player to climb inside and play the game, posing as a machine.Photo: Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group (Getty Images)
However, there are also countless more automation hoaxes that are popping up.
Tech companies are racing to appear on the cutting edge, implementing AI technologies before theyre actually ready.
That means many companies are propping up phony AI models with human workers.
Here are 10 modern examples of Mechanical Turks, when automation is really just humans in disguise.
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