MIT News
MIT grad students used 8 million Google images and GPS data to train a computer to recognize patterns that indicate the distance to the nearest McDonalds and other facts about the area in the photo.
Pitting their algorithm against humans, they found that the computer was better at identifying the distance to a McDonalds or a hospital merely from the image itself, and could also estimate crime rates based on clues in images, but that humans were better at navigating a path to the nearest McDonalds.
Try the McDonalds-hunting challenge yourself!
MIT grad students used 8 million Google images and GPS data to train a computer to recognize patterns that indicate the distance to the nearest McDonalds and other facts about the area in the photo.
Pitting their algorithm against humans, they found that the computer was better at identifying the distance to a McDonalds or a hospital merely from the image itself, and could also estimate crime rates based on clues in images, but that humans were better at navigating a path to the nearest McDonalds.
Try the McDonalds-hunting challenge yourself!
