Jeff Garzik plans to create a 21 Bitcoin computer-powered crowdsourcing labor market

There is a problem of understanding the 21 Bitcoin computer. Most people only know that it has a Bitcoin mining chip inside, so they think it can mine and make profits like miners. In fact, its real value comes from using it to buy and sell goods, services, etc. Jeff Garzik, a Bitcoin core developer, is creating a crowdsourcing labor market that supports automatic payments - 21 Marketplace.

Mining for profit is not what the 21 Bitcoin Computer was designed for, and 21 clearly states this in its FAQ:

“You shouldn’t buy a 21 Bitcoin computer if you just want to mine it for profit. What can you do with it? You can use it to create a Bitcoin payment service.”

However, the easiest way to understand the 21 Bitcoin Computer is to think of it as a computer with Bitcoin built in. It runs on the 21 Bitcoin operating system, which the company describes as "the first Linux distribution that includes device drivers to generate a steady stream of Bitcoin and a set of programs written for local consumption." However, it is up to developers and users to create their own applications using the 21 Computer.

Earlier this week, Jeff Garzik released the code for a nearly completed project that uses the 21 Bitcoin computer as a "Mechanical Turk" for crowdsourcing tasks in bitcoin. The software provides a framework for crowdsourcing small tasks and paying small rewards when the tasks are completed.

This small task model is similar to Amazon Mechanical Turk, which is a crowdsourcing labor service that pays small amounts of money to task recipients to complete tasks that cannot be easily automated, such as recognizing photos or formatting product names. The name "Turkish Mechanical" originated in the 18th century, when an inventor claimed to have invented a robot with human intelligence that could play chess with people, and swept through chess masters in Europe with this robot. Later, a king ordered the machine to be dismantled, and it turned out that there was a real person hidden inside - a Turkish chess master. People then realized that this invention was a scam.

The code for "Turk" released by Garzik provides a way to set up a crowdsourced task assignment and pay workers to complete the task. It also provides a link to the 21 market where users can find tasks posted. According to the API demo sample of this "Turk", a supervisor submits an image and a list of questions about the image, and the worker views the image and submits the answer to the question. The API then collects the answers submitted by the workers and finally pays the workers who provide the most accurate answers.

The code is still untested and incomplete, but Garzi says it’s “98% complete.” Still to be worked on is a way to automatically verify the submitted answers. When a specified number of workers have completed a task, the submitted answers are compared not only to each other but also to the expected answers, and at the end, the most accurate answers earn a reward in bitcoin, which is automatically paid out.

Garzik's project is a new design concept, and users may come up with other better ways to use the 21 Bitcoin Computer in the future. The CEO of 21 has written some use cases for the 21 Bitcoin Computer, such as selling digital files, renting hardware usage, selling API calls, etc. Garzik's combination of "turk" and crowdsourcing is a natural extension of the distributed nature of Bitcoin.

Applications like "Turk" can distribute work on any project to all participants around the world, and can greatly reduce the inconvenience of accepting tasks and paying for them. Crowdsourcing provides human resources, and Bitcoin lowers the barrier to entry.

Original article: https://news.bitcoin.com/jeff-garzik-releases-21-bitcoin-powered-mechanical-turk/
By TJ Weekes
Translator: printemps
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information