Here is something that may interest many people. Facebook is going to pay people to record audio clips via a program called Pronunciations. Participants can earn close to $5, thanks to Facebook cash out. It definitely is not a lot of money. However, it seems like a rather amusing way to make a small change, while also helping Facebook to improve its speech recognition technology.
Here is how to avail of Facebook cash out
- Facebook will first recruit users via surveys. The company plans to hold these surveys on Viewpoints, its market research app.
- Those who qualify in the initial survey will need to utter the phrase “Hey Portal”. Soon after a participant utters “Hey Portal”, they should also say the name of a friend in their friend list.
- Those who decide to participate will have to say “Hey Portal + (Friend’s name)” at least ten times. Each time, the name should be different. This fetches the participants 200 points.
- To cash out $5, a user will have to accumulate 1,000 points.
Facebook cash out will not make anyone rich
Of course, nobody is going to get rich with this kind of money or cashouts. This is a curious experiment that might help Facebook to improve its artificial intelligence transcription skills. It is also an ethical decision. Facebook has often been hounded by critics for using data without permission to improve its products and services. This survey explicitly seeks permission from users for their voices to be used in research. In addition, Facebook will also pay them for it, no matter how small the amount is.
What are the competitors doing?
Apple and Amazon have had similar programs in the past, while Google has temporarily paused it. Amazon allows participants to opt-out of its audio transcription program, while Google may come up with something similar to Facebook. Competitors will not remain silent and may offer incentives to users if they participate as well. It might actually be a step in the right direction, as data will be collected with consent, and used only for the stated purpose.
Most importantly, one will have the satisfaction of having contributed something to the development of technology. Artificial intelligence and speech recognition are important fields that have significant ramifications in almost all fields, including healthcare.
