AI catches secret pool-owners wet-handed
Freeze! Tax-collecting AI! (Photo: Westend61)
As somewhat of a casual liar myself (I mean, I am a writer), I can excuse little white lies that don’t really hurt anybody. Like, “I’m on the way,” “Of course, I remember you,” or “I hope this email finds you well!”
But lying about having an entire swimming pool on your property? It may seem like a harmless—albeit 6-feet deep—lie, but it actually reeks of potential tax evasion charges. And thanks to this French AI tool, tax collectors can catch them, well, wet-handed.
Diving into the problem
There’s a larger story behind these unreported swimming pools.
It’s no secret that global temperatures are rising year by year, but it’s hitting certain countries more than others. France in particular is experiencing the second hottest summer in the past century, reaching past the 40° celsius mark. As someone who lives in a country dangerously close to the equator, I can concur. That’s runnin’ too hot, hot, hot, hot.
This environmental phenomenon has hurled France into an ongoing water crisis. About 100 towns are short on drinking water, several boats were stranded on dried-up river beds along the French-Swiss border, and water use is being restricted in 93 regions.
Despite the country’s historic water shortage, some property owners in France still keep swimming.
The pesky property owners who tried to offset France’s sweltering summers secretly built swimming pools, hoping they can swim peacefully off the radar. Besides the obvious fact that it’s somewhat of a dick move, it’s also considered tax evasion. Having a pool on your property can boost your property value, which also leads to higher property taxes. So hiding the fact you have a pool means you pay less in taxes.
Since October, over 20,000 undeclared swimming pools have been detected in French regions by an AI tool. The discoveries made by this AI tool will enable French tax collectors to solicit as much as $10M in property taxes. Its success has inspired a nationwide pilot run in the coming months, and maybe even worldwide.
How it works is the AI tool scans publicly available satellite images of houses and backyards. The AI can pinpoint the surroundings of infrastructures and identify pools that are typically impossible to spot over walls, but can be detected from above as blue or white rectangles or ovals. The tool can then compare these results with the official database of publicly-declared pool owners and flag any discrepancies.
And if the AI tool misidentifies, let’s say, a blue tarp to be a swimming pool? Human analysts correct any mistakes made by the AI tool. But even now, that’s less than likely.
The French tax agency reported that the AI’s algorithm was refined through machine learning over the course of its testing and reached a 94% accuracy rate.
Convenience for a price
The usual trade-off for useful AI is the fact that it’s a teensy bit invasive. I mean, just the other week I saw my isolated home on Google Earth. And just the other day, I got sponsored ads for Vick’s inhalers despite never searching it even once on my phone (but huffing and talking about my Vick’s inhaler on the daily). There’s even tech that tracks people’s daily routes. Our phones are always listening and satellites are always watching.
If there’s AI that exists solely to police undercover pool-owning, who’s to say there won’t be other AI tools that invade our personal space in the name of convenience?
And over time, we’re seeing more and more people happily agree to that trade-off. There’s a plethora of AI tools we’ve adapted into our everyday lives with the very knowledge that they may be invasive, but the debatable self-affirmation that they do more good than harm.
Professional artists now use AI art tools for conceptualization, drivers now use autopilot AI to learn their surroundings, and almost every smartphone user relies on AI to tell them what time it is.
AI tools don’t offer convenience without a price. French tax collectors consider this invasiveness a fair price point if it means greater equity and tax justice.
What about you? What are the costs you’re willing to pay for your convenience and overall welfare?
