MTurk Money

Mechanical Turk, also known as mturk (www.mturk.com) is an Amazon project with a unique tagline: Artificial Artificial Intelligence. The concept is simple enough, there are certain tasks that are extremely simple for a human to complete, but would be difficult or impossible for a computer to accurately duplicate. These tasks are called HITs, or Human Intelligence Tasks and can range from determining if two photographs represent the same item, to flagging inappropriate images, to transcribing text from a business card into a web form. There are also some requesters who post surveys on Mechanical Turk, typically University departments, and can pay anywhere from $0.35 to $1.50 or more.


The pay for each HIT is set by the requester, but most tasks on MTurk pay only pennies. This can be a bit worrying at first, but these tasks typically take only a few seconds to complete. After you have completed a bunch of tasks, those pennies really add up.

Here are my current stats:

12 days of accepting and completing tasks
562 tasks submitted
512 tasks approved and paid
50 tasks pending approval
$50.57 earned

Now, $50 in two weeks certainly does not sound like a lot of money, and it really isn't, but that is for all purposes 50 free dollars that I would not otherwise have gotten. I am also fairly picky as to what HITs I will accept, and only work on HITs when I have the free time to do so. People willing to work more or on a wider variety of HITs can easily make more than I have, but even if you want to work more sparingly MTurk can help pay for lunch or gas without much effort at all.

One of the best things about MTurk is that there is no payment threshold. Other programs require you to make a certain amount of money before you can cash out and actually collect. InboxDollars has a $30 minimum, ReviewStream $50, Text Broker $10, AdSense $100. Even my credit card company won't give me my cash back checks until I've earned $20 for a statement credit, $25 for direct deposit, or $50 for a check. Amazon is willing to pay via Amazon gift card OR direct deposit into your personal bank account with no minimum.

So, let's break it down:

Mechanical Turk

Web: www.mturk.com

Pros:

• No minimum to cash out
• Can direct deposit or get gift cards - no waiting for a check
• Tasks are simple to complete
• Run by Amazon - legitimate site with little risk of disappearing
   

Cons:

• Tasks can pay as little as $0.01 each
• Requesters can take their time approving your task
• Your task can be rejected
• Tasks can be repetitive and boring

Verdict: 5 Stars - Excellent Opportunity