New Google System Watches Your Cursor to Tell if You're Human

Google may have just made your web-browsing life a little easier. You're probably familiar with CAPTCHAs, which pop up on websites asking you to read and re-type distorted text to prove you're human and not a robotic clicking system. Well, today, Google revealed a new version of what it calls "reCAPTCHA," and it can figure out whether you're human without any typing. Instead, the system looks at your IP address, the cookies you use, and the way your mouse moves when you click on a check box, Wired reports. The new system, Google suggests on its security blog, should be even tougher for robots to crack.

"Our research recently showed that today’s Artificial Intelligence technology can solve even the most difficult variant of distorted text at 99.8% accuracy," the company says. "Thus, distorted text, on its own, is no longer a dependable test." The new system is based on a "model of how a human behaves,” says a product manager. Tested on two different websites, the system was able to identify 60% and 80% of human users. When it's not clear whether you're a robot, reCAPTCHA will still require reading warped text. As for phone and tablet users, they'll have to play a brief image-matching game. They might, for instance, see a picture of a cat and have to check boxes next to other cats, but not dogs. (More Google stories.)