Proof of Work
Categories: Ethics/Morals
The internet is full of troublemaker bots. Thanks to them, we have to prove to websites sometimes that we’re humans, and not...troublemaker bots. This is what Proof of Work, or PoW, is for.
PoW is the little task that you, human, must do to prove your human-ness. PoWs are made so that troublemaker bots don’t cause a denial of service: when bots take a server down so that the regular users can use it anymore. For instance, if a bunch of bots cause enough processing time on a bank’s server, you wouldn’t be able to access your bank account. PoW goes all the way back to 1993, but wasn’t formalized until 1999.
There are other types of spam too, but denial of service is the main one that service providers are looking to avoid with PoWs.
You’ve seen them. Types of PoWs include CAPTCHAs, and little puzzles where you have to pick out the images with road signs in them. Fun fact: all the road-related PoWs aren’t a coincidence. Think about it...self-driving cars have to be able to see those signs, cars, and people. You’re providing them valuable human data that will be used with self-driving cars, whether you like it or not.
