Ticking the "I'm not a robot" checkbox on an internet form may soon become a thing of the past. Google has officially announced its Invisible reCAPTCHA service, which is able to differentiate humans from bots without additional input from the website user.
This is an improvement over CAPTCHAs and reCAPTCHAs of the past, since it offers greater ease of use to valid users. According to Google, the new technology uses machine learning and an improved risk analysis engine to analyze web browsing behavior. The user will only need to solve a CAPTCHA if their browsing patterns are in some way suspicious.
CAPTCHAs and reCAPTCHAs are important to web developers because they help prevent malicious bots from attacking websites. Without this form of security, sites are subject to spam and other forms of exploitation.
CAPTCHAs also do a service for Google as well – every time a CAPTCHA is solved, it enhances Google's machine learning database by digitizing and transcribing images and text. Google applies this information to its efforts transcribing books and improving maps.
Source: Google