Algorithmic visual cultures: Human vision, machines, and the case of CAPTCHAs

This article aims to advance the study of algorithmic visual culture, defined as the use of computational processes to produce, sort, classify, and hierarchize visual media, and the cultural implications that emerge from such processes. To address this agenda, it focuses on the emergence of CAPTCHAs as a gateway to illuminate key developments in algorithmic visual cultures. CAPTCHAs are a security measure used online to determine whether a request comes from a human user or a computer program. CAPTCHAs represent an exceptional entry point for understanding the algorithmic visual cultures shaped by interactions between humans and machines. First, as a reversed Turing Test, CAPTCHAs recall the increasing difficulty of distinguishing between humans and machines. Second, CAPTCHAs are not only a security measure but also a training system to improve visual recognition software based on neural networks. Therefore, they stimulate us to consider how the visual skills of individual users are mobilized and appropriated by algorithmic systems.