Blog:
Classroom #1: HUMAN Protocol for beginners
Welcome to the Classroom, a new series to help the HUMAN Protocol community understand the fundamentals of the network. The series will include information on tech, AI, and blockchain.
Beyond that, it will give simple instructions on topics such as: how to get started with HUMAN Protocol, how to work with the Routing Layer, and how to complete work, or request it.
The first lesson is the ultimate simplification of HUMAN Protocol.
HUMAN Protocol allows anyone to pay millions of humans to complete tasks online. It’s that simple.
If you learn nothing else in this article, this alone will suffice for a simple understanding of the technology.
HUMAN Protocol takes care of all the intricate details of processing these tasks in an automated way. The Requesters who want work done, and the Workers who do the work, don't have to worry about the details - they can focus on what matters to them.
Let’s use an example.
A large accounting firm wants a financial report checked. In HUMAN Protocol, this firm is called the Requester.
They upload the report, and pre-fund a smart bounty with HMT, USD or other FIAT currencies (thanks to one of our grantees). That is to make sure Workers and all other pieces of the network involved in completing the work can earn for their contribution to the process.
HUMAN Protocol distributes the work to applications that are appropriate for the work. In this case, they might use the HUMAN App with its new BPO functionality.
Then, Workers who use the app complete the tasks. See an example below.
As they complete tasks, the Recording Oracle – a piece of software – checks the answer. They pass on the answer and an initial assessment of its quality to the Reputation Oracle – another piece of software – that checks the Recording Oracle’s assessment.
The Reputation Oracle assigns a reputation to the Worker, and, if the work is good enough, updates the smart bounty to release the prepaid funds to the Worker wallet address.
If applications are built on top, and blockchains lie beneath, HUMAN Protocol sits in the middle.
It looks something like:
So, HUMAN Protocol is not an app. It offers the technology required to build useful apps, such as Ask Athena. Ask Athena is a market research app that uses HUMAN Protocol to request humans to give feedback, such as in A/B testing, or providing answers to multiple choice questions.
HUMAN Protocol also offers pre-made apps which operate as examples – the HUMAN App is really a demonstration of the potential use cases. Right now, it's processing 100 million tasks every month. Each task, in this case is a data annotation in CAPTCHA form.
HUMAN Protocol is not a blockchain, either. It uses blockchains to make sure work is paid for fairly, securely, and in a transparent way. Blockchains also allow for HUMAN Protocol to enable rewards for very small pieces of work – such as answering Ask Athena multiple choice questions.
The efficiency of lower processing costs means that HUMAN Protocol can offer better prices for both the Requester and Worker, while also offering work that previously wasn’t supported by competitor technologies.
Perhaps rewarding individuals for their contributions seems to contradict collaboration.
But that's not the case.
The technology that allows Workers access to greater rewards for their work is the very same technology that allows them to work with millions of others. They just don't necessarily know that they're working with millions of others.
The Requester can benefit from getting millions of people around the globe to work together on a problem. The Worker, too, indirectly benefits from this collaborative approach, because the power of what can be accomplished by many is necessarily dependent on the individuals who are doing it. A technology that enables new problems to be solved must inevitably benefit those solving it, because they are getting more work.
In theory, HUMAN Protocol can process any kind of work that can be validated in a deterministic way.
‘Deterministic’ simply means that it is possible to determine that the work has been correctly completed, or not. For example, if you look at the CAPTCHA below, the answer is either right or wrong. You either click an image with a bicycle, or you don’t.
HUMAN Protocol can loop in people to evaluate more subjective work, but that gets a little more complex. We’ll cover that another time.
To recap, HUMAN Protocol is simply a software solution that allows anyone to request and pay millions of people to complete work online. Its lower processing costs can be passed on as lower fees to the Requester and Worker alike. It fosters collaboration, and values individual contribution - and, as it grows and integrates new apps and blockchains, it will be able to solve more and more complex tasks. That's why we're only at the beginning of unlocking HUMAN Protocol's potential.
For the latest updates on HUMAN Protocol, follow us on Twitter or join our Discord. Alternatively, to enquire about integrations, usage, or to learn more about HUMAN Protocol, get in contact.
Legal Disclaimer
The HUMAN Protocol Foundation makes no representation, warranty, or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or reasonableness of the information contained here. Any assumptions, opinions, and estimations expressed constitute the HUMAN Protocol Foundation’s judgment as of the time of publishing and are subject to change without notice. Any projection contained within the information presented here is based on a number of assumptions, and there can be no guarantee that any projected outcomes will be achieved.
