Crowdsourcing Homework

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DNHS Flocker - Homework and Hack Completion

1. Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is the practice of gathering information, ideas, services, or content from a large group of people, typically via the internet.

Examples of Crowdsourcing

  • Wikipedia: Volunteers collaboratively create and edit content.
  • Waze: Drivers share real-time traffic data to improve navigation.
  • GoFundMe: People contribute small amounts of money to collectively fund larger projects.

2. Human Computation

Human computation refers to systems that combine human skills with computer processing power to solve complex problems.

Examples of Human Computation

  • reCAPTCHA: Users help digitize text by verifying distorted words.
  • Foldit: Players solve puzzles to help scientists understand protein folding.
  • Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk): A platform where workers perform small tasks that AI struggles with, such as sentiment analysis or content moderation.

Popcorn Hacks

Popcorn Hack 1:

Find a website that uses reCAPTCHA.

Link?

Popcorn Hack 2:

Find another public dataset and describe its purpose. What do you think are the pros and cons of this dataset?

https://minecraftathome.com/projects/ Minecraft Dataset… Pros: Other people help using distributed computing. Cons: Relies on other people and specific device abilities

Regular Hacks

Question 1: Explain the concept of crowdsourcing. Provide 2 examples (that have not been mentioned in this lesson) of how it is commonly used in different fields.

Answer: Crowdsourcing involves gathering input or ideas from a large group of people, often via the internet, to solve problems or generate ideas.
Example 1: In design, Threadless crowdsources t-shirt designs, allowing artists to submit and vote on their favorite designs.
Example 2: In the business world, Lego Ideas invites fans to submit new Lego set concepts, and if a design gets enough votes, it can become an official product.

Question 2: Identify a real-world example of a successful crowdsourcing project. Explain the project, its goals, and the positive outcomes achieved through the collaboration of a large group of people.

Answer: Wikipedia is a successful crowdsourcing project where volunteers contribute to creating and editing an online encyclopedia.

  • Goals: To provide free and reliable information to everyone across the world.
  • Outcomes: With the help of millions of volunteers, Wikipedia has become the largest and most used online reference source globally, improving access to knowledge.

Question 3: What are some drawbacks of crowdsourcing and why would certain groups denounce crowdsourcing? Provide specific example(s).

Answer:
Drawbacks:

  • Vulnerable to misinformation: Crowdsourcing platforms can be manipulated, leading to false or biased results.
  • Lack of diversity: Sometimes, crowdsourcing can lack the diversity needed to generate comprehensive results.
    Example: Crowdsourced platforms like Kickstarter have faced backlash for funding ideas that ultimately fail, leaving backers with no reward.

Question 4: Find a public data set that would work with your Pilot City project.

Answer: A suitable public dataset for a “Pilot City” project could be the City of New York’s Open Data platform. It provides a wide range of datasets related to urban infrastructure, traffic, health, and more. This data can assist in urban planning and decision-making processes for a city development project.