Called the “Mechanical Turk,” Kempelen’s device became the talk of high society for decades, and went on to beat famed opponents including Ben Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte. Though Kempelen’s cover was finally blown in the 1850s, the legacy of the Mechanical Turk lives on to this day. Unlike Kempelen’s Mechanical Turk, Udotong says the pair have since “automated” Fireflies’ notetaking process. Given their success in the years since Fireflies’ mechanical Turk routine, he’s probably not wrong. More on startups: Startup Secretly Working to Gene-Hack Human Baby