
Software That Predicts a Neighborhood’s Wealth from Space - jonbaer
https://www.wired.com/story/penny-an-ai-that-predicts-a-neighborhoods-wealth-from-space/
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didgeoridoo
The helipad issue seems pretty intuitive. Personal helipads are so rare that
the system probably hasn't seen enough to "learn" that this is a sign of
extreme wealth. Virtually all the helipads the system has seen are probably on
the roofs of hospitals and inside airports, neither of which is particularly
associated with "high income".

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camiller
I have a different take. If I'm affluent I don't want helicopters landing
around my house, too much noise harshing my mellow. So I use my affluence to
influence the government to not allow the permits necessary.

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opportune
Ever heard of the Hamptons? It's not about your own personal taste, wealthy
people actually do have helipads.

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camiller
Probably less of an issue for neighbors when the estates are expansive, but
dropping a helipad on (as the article suggests) trump tower or amongst the
brownstones of NY is probably going to meet some resistance.

I did spend a few min panning around the Hamptons in Google maps and didn't
see any helipads. Not saying they don't exist, just not ubiquitous even amount
the wealthy.

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panic
What is this software supposed to be used for? On their site
([http://penny.digitalglobe.com](http://penny.digitalglobe.com)) they only say
they're "hoping to spark a conversation". If it's a critical conversation
they're hoping to spark, I wish they would follow projects like White Collar
Risk Zones
([https://whitecollar.thenewinquiry.com](https://whitecollar.thenewinquiry.com))
and go further into absurdity to make it clear what they're saying. As it is,
it's too easy for someone confused about what "AI" can do to take this
seriously as a tool for urban planning.

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kesselvon
its a PR ploy to sell data to corporations.

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edejong
User changes small element of '100% confident' data-set followed by a
regression to the mean. This sounds like an over-fitted model to me.

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myth_drannon
There is a startup in Montreal that estimates how much solar roof installation
will cost based on house photos from space.

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Double_a_92
Wasn't that Google though?

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carlosdp
Yea project Sunroof:
[https://www.google.com/get/sunroof](https://www.google.com/get/sunroof)

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amelius
Next: a software that predicts a person's wealth by looking at them.

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learc83
The household wealth gap between races is _much_ bigger than the income gap in
the US. You could probably get statistically significant results by just
basing it on skin tone.

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pcunite
Preoccupation with how _wealthy_ others are is not a good use of your time.

 _Different types of objects and shapes seem to be highly correlated with
different income levels. For example, lower income areas tend to have baseball
diamonds, parking lots, and large similarly shaped buildings (such as housing
projects). In middle income areas we see more single family homes and
apartment buildings. Higher income areas tend to have greener spaces, tall
shiny buildings, and single family homes with lush backyards._

I live within 2 miles of a baseball diamond. What do you think of me now?

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blackbagboys
Of course it's a good use of time. Knowing where the wealth is, and who
controls it, is a prerequisite for forcing it to be shared more equitably.

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microcolonel
Can't tell if you're being facetious or not, but "forcing" the wealth to be
"shared more equitably" is a surefire way to generate capital flight. That's
alright if your goal is to turn the United States into a giant Venezuela with
nukes.

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frgtpsswrdlame
Do you believe rich people will leave the United States if we taxed them more
heavily?

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mmirate
Such a thing is only logical for them, yes.

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frgtpsswrdlame
I think most of them enjoy the US beyond just our tax rates but if they really
are pure citizens of the world who have no interest in the US, then let them
leave and raise those tax rates.

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alehul
They'd be able to move their capital outside the country while still residing
inside it, and enjoying the other U.S. benefits.

Assuming those with the ability to move their wealth overseas would do so, the
people most affected by substantially raising taxes would be those without
enough wealth to move it... those outside the top 1%, 0.1%.. whatever super-
rich people the policy aims to target.

Although it isn't ideal that the wealthy can 'shop around' for the most tax-
friendly nations, it certainly happens, and Switzerland is a fine example of
that capital flight in effect.

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sfifs
highly likely an overfitted model if such a small change can drive such large
variation

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pavement
_News Flash_ : computer judges books by their cover, yields opinions regarding
stereotypes developed by using statistical methods and correlation as an
indicator of likely causation.

 _Up Next_ : How to use fMRI images of fish brains to determine sentience.

