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Websites will start testing computers, not humans

As bots are gaining the ability to behave more like humans, experts are searching for different ways to test if website users are human.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Anyone who has navigated the internet has run into the test that makes you prove that you are not a robot. Well, websites could soon stop using those. And it's coincidentally because of ... robots.

Let's connect the dots. 

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The tests are called CAPTCHA, and they can come in a couple of different versions, from clicking a box to selecting boxes that include a traffic light. 

But, rather than testing if you're correct, these tests are really monitoring how you navigate the page. A bot would scroll through a page much differently than a human. 

However, the growing problem is that AI and machine learning are giving bots the ability to behave more like humans. This means they are becoming increasingly able to beat a CAPTCHA. 

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Humans also tend to become annoyed by these robot tests and they end up abandoning their purchases altogether. So, newer approaches are giving up on challenging humans and now focusing on challenging our computers. 

According to the Washington Post, sites can look for clues on your computer and browser to see if they are being controlled by a human.

The switch is starting, but experts warn that smaller websites may take longer to stop testing their consumers.

Contact Ben Thompson at bthompson@wcnc.com and follow him on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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