Top Book Recommendations by Luis von Ahn: Best Books for Success

Luis von Ahn is a computer scientist and entrepreneur who has had a successful career in human computation and crowdsourcing.

He began his career as a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, where he developed the concept of CAPTCHA, which is widely used to prevent automated software from engaging in abusive behavior on websites. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 2005 for his work on CAPTCHA.

After completing his Ph.D., von Ahn joined the faculty at Carnegie Mellon as an assistant professor. He continued researching human computation, developing new methods for using human intelligence to solve computational problems. For example, his research led to reCAPTCHA, a more advanced version of CAPTCHA that uses the same technology to digitize books.

In 2011, von Ahn co-founded Duolingo, a popular language-learning platform that uses the principles of human computation to create a fun and engaging way to learn languages. As the CEO, he played a crucial role in building the company, and it's becoming one of the world's most widely used language-learning apps, with over 300 million active users.

In addition to his work at Duolingo, von Ahn continues conducting research and teaching at Carnegie Mellon University. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the MacArthur "genius" Fellowship in 2006 and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Learning XPRIZE.

In summary, von Ahn's career has been marked by his pioneering work in human computation and crowdsourcing, including the invention of CAPTCHA and the development of reCAPTCHA, and his entrepreneurial success in building Duolingo, a widely used language-learning platform.