The name "Mechanical Turk" is inspired by a historical 18th-century chess-playing automaton that was discreetly operated by a human chess expert. Amazon initially developed this concept to help categorize vast amounts of data on its expansive online marketplace, according to a report from The New York Times.
Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, referred to the service as "artificial artificial intelligence," as it outsourced tasks that were straightforward for humans but remained challenging for machines to handle.
Launched in 2005, Mechanical Turk (MTurk) connects a multitude of workers with straightforward digital assignments known as "Human Intelligence Tasks," typically rewarding them a few cents per task. These tasks can include data labeling, transcription of audio or video, and survey participation.
A recent announcement on the MTurk website stated, "We regularly evaluate our programs, tools, and services and make adjustments based on those assessments. Following an assessment, we've made the decision to close AWS Mechanical Turk, effective September 30, 2026."
Amazon has decided to discontinue its crowdsourced work platform, Mechanical Turk, which has been operating for 21 years, the company disclosed on Tuesday.
At its peak, MTurk provided opportunities for over 500,000 workers, often referred to as turkers, as per Amazon. However, Krista Pawloski, a data worker and organizer with Turkopticon, an advocate for data workers' rights, mentioned that the platform has been "in decline" in recent years.
As artificial intelligence models have evolved swiftly since MTurk’s inception, various data startups like Scale AI, Mercor, and Prolific have emerged, seeking workers to train these models.
To capitalize on the demand for AI training, Amazon previously promoted MTurk as a resource for data annotation for its SageMaker service. An Amazon Web Services webpage highlighted, "Workers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You typically get the fastest turnaround for your human review tasks and labeling jobs when you use the Amazon Mechanical Turk workforce."
Pawloski noted that Amazon appeared to invest fewer resources into enhancing MTurk while more data labeling services cropped up, prompting numerous turkers to flock to competing platforms.
Amazon officials had not provided an immediate response to requests for comment.
Concerns have emerged regarding the quality of some data generated on MTurk. A study conducted in Switzerland in 2023 found that nearly 46% of workers on the platform had utilized AI models to complete tasks.
Last month, Amazon announced it would cease accepting new customers for Mechanical Turk, a move many workers interpreted as a precursor to the service's shutdown.
Several insurance and travel companies continue to rely on MTurk for data work and are now urgently seeking alternative platforms, according to Pawloski.
Pawloski began using MTurk in 2008 during maternity leave for additional income and shifted to full-time work on the platform after losing her job in 2012 while caring for her son with special needs. She joined Turkopticon in 2019, initially focusing on Mechanical Turk workers before broadening to encompass all data workers.
Mechanical Turk, alongside other data annotation services, provides "meaningful income" and flexible hours, akin to gig economy roles such as ride-hailing or Amazon Flex deliveries. Pawloski emphasized that these jobs are remote and can be easily performed using a smartphone.
"There are still people who essentially do it full time," she added, expressing their concerns amid the impending changes.
