The power of artificial intelligence is now being used to crack down on unpaid taxes in France.
[...] Pools can boost the value of a property and must be declared under French law as they can lead to higher property taxes. French news publication The Connexion said a swimming pool can increase a property tax bill by up to 30pc.
French authorities began an experiment last year using an AI system developed by Google and tech services firm Capgemini, according to local media reports. This AI is able to identify pools from aerial images and compare the information with land registry databases.
Nine French departments were able to uncover more than 20,000 undeclared swimming pools using this technology.
[...] Following the success of the trial, France's tax office now plans to extend this AI system nationwide and it could reap €40m in new taxes next year.
The scope of the software could also be expanded to spot other undeclared property enhancements such as annexes or extensions.
[...] AI is "without any doubt" the new fuel for the modern economy, according to John Clancy from Ireland's Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum, with the potential to disrupt and transform almost every industry and business sector.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 31 2022, @09:03PM (5 children)
AI is "without any doubt" the new fuel for the modern economy
makes me sick..
(Score: 5, Touché) by acid andy on Wednesday August 31 2022, @11:35PM (3 children)
Next time the captcha asks you to click on all the images where there's a swimming pool, whatcha gonna do?
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:00AM (1 child)
In other news: French property taxing authorities have been identified as the laziest on the continent, unable to even pay an intern / apprentice enough to look over aerial photography and compare the obvious swimming pools in the images to property address boundaries and the tax registry database.
Meanwhile, unemployment among French youth runs rampant with protesters in the street demanding cake from women in powdered wigs...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2022, @09:52AM
Again. Stop. Giving. Them. Ideas.
(Score: 2) by corey on Friday September 02 2022, @02:29AM
What I do every time I’m presented with any captcha shit: swear and complain and wonder if I really need to continue with whatever I was attempting to do. But often I just tick the box and it doesn’t pop up with the AI training crap. Not sure if it’s ublock or something doing some magic.
(Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Thursday September 01 2022, @01:25AM
No, no, real stupidity is, and always has been, the fuel for the modern economy.
Ug. Identifying objects from aerial photos is one of the more simple use cases for advanced pattern matching. Excuse me, I mean "AI".
Although it can make finding them easier, they are STILL going to have to have someone manually verify each one, or else face embarrassment from the occasional false positives. Yea, that giant blue blob out back was someones mom...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by HammeredGlass on Wednesday August 31 2022, @10:42PM (7 children)
or as fascism should be known as for it is the marriage of corporations and the state.' ~ Mussolini(?)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @12:54PM (6 children)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HammeredGlass on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:02PM (5 children)
por que no los tres?
(Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @05:31PM (4 children)
Second, there are nuances. In fascism the state is primal with membership in the wealthy class a privilege granted by the state. Some others add characteristics like racism or far right priorities. A plutocracy is rulership by the wealthy. Rules on owning/controlling wealth would have priority over the power of the state. I think the two are mutually exclusive due to the difference in relative standing of the state and wealth.
A kleptocracy naturally overlaps with these two with a focus on using the power of the state to steal resources from the state and its constituents.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Friday September 02 2022, @12:37AM (3 children)
I understand the distinction you're making but wouldn't the rulers in a plutocracy or kleptocracy eventually tend to want to strengthen authoritarian forces in their state when they get to the point where they fear or see signs that their wealth may be under threat? It's either that or they need to get very good at the old bread and circuses route.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 02 2022, @01:40AM (2 children)
Unless the authoritarian forces are what threatens their wealth! Then it would go the other way.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Friday September 02 2022, @01:59AM (1 child)
Once they can buy their own robot army they won't need to worry about the possibility of mutiny. Unless the robots' manufacturers left in backdoors, of course...
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 02 2022, @02:23AM
What happens when it's their boss who is mutinying?
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday August 31 2022, @11:33PM (5 children)
They must be fun at parties. Especially ones where there's a pool. An undeclared pool.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @01:02AM (4 children)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:03AM (3 children)
Enforcing the tax law about property valuation when a swimming pool has been constructed on the property is hardly comparable to the HOA gestapo.
First thing the HOA gestapo would do is establish some kind of system where the gestapo pools are exempt from taxation, then they would find a way to extend swimming pool taxation to the temporary "kiddie pools" that young families put out in the summer - not as pool-tax per-se, but more as a violation of "appearance and clutter" codes which they have passed: "to improve our property values."
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:08AM (2 children)
Says you.
The Gestapo is not about brazen hypocrisy - that's just a side benefit. It's about power over others.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 01 2022, @08:06PM (1 child)
If you don't want pools taxed have you considered repealing the law that taxes pools?
Nah, lets just declare Hitler and move on!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @09:05PM
It's hard to repeal bad law - much like opposing a zerg rush [wikipedia.org]. For every one you get, several more take its place. And sometimes it takes years to organize opposition to such laws.
Eventually the solution will be just not following these laws.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 31 2022, @11:41PM (13 children)
that he should roof the pools over! But, no, he wanted to save a few hundred thousand Euros on each home!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by janrinok on Thursday September 01 2022, @12:17AM (12 children)
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2022, @12:36AM
Oh, think twice
Just a bureaucratic paradise..
Nice reminder why the Europeans came here
(Score: 3, Funny) by RS3 on Thursday September 01 2022, @12:56AM (10 children)
So they need to cover it with something that looks from above like lawn, trees, flower gardens, etc. :)
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2022, @01:19AM
Shhhhhh, you're never supposed to say that out loud!
(Score: 3, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:06AM (8 children)
Bunker pool! They'll never notice all the soil being taken away and concrete and rebar being delivered to the root cellar.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 01 2022, @06:45AM (6 children)
Might as well flood the basement. You know, the basement? That space under, oh, nevermind. :)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2022, @10:08AM (5 children)
Big house built on the bank of the Peace River (aka frequently active floodway) by a man from New Jersey in the 1970s, has a basement. It floods about 3 times a decade. There is a load bearing wall in the middle of that basement made of untreated wood framing, usually covered in drywall too. You would think after the 10th replacement of the wet/warping 2x4 studs that hold up two stories above they would go for more water compatible materials, but no: cheapest framing lumber available every time.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:13PM (4 children)
Wow. In college I had to take a statics course that was taught by a semi-retired renowned architectural engineer. It was really good. That plus I've done a bit of construction, all makes me astonished that the building codes would allow such dangerous construction. Maybe they figure a sinkhole will swallow it up anyway, so why bother doing things right?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2022, @04:58PM (2 children)
This is a good 40 miles south of the heavy sinkhole activity. In this county they kinda look at you funny when you ask for a building permit for anything other than a whole new house. Generally nobody pulls permits for extensions, repairs, storage buildings, the county has "adopted the standard code" put forth by the state, but they really don't enforce it much. Got something you want to build but don't want a permit for? Call it ag use, done.
Neighbor is the type that would hire his own crew to do the work and never tell the county anything, then burn the scrap on our fenceline right next to dry scrub. He hasn't lit our forest on fire yet, but not for lack of trying.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 01 2022, @05:50PM (1 child)
Other than the pyromaniac neighbor (I strongly dislike fire and see no good in burning waste stuff), I need to move to your area! My township thinks they're the top in the US. They want a permit for you to look at a paint color website. Forget it if you want to replace a faulty outlet (literally permits, licensed inspection required). And just buy a new house if you want to do anything at all. It's truly Draconian.
I need to build a shed, and they want major permits, plans, photos, inspections. If the shed is bigger than a certain amount (I forget, maybe 8x8), they want it 15' from the property line. So we'll have a neighborhood of houses and sheds in the middle of lawns. THAT's an eyesore. I'd rather have sheds in back corners, or back-to-back with the neighbor's shed. And most have done that, but not with permit or inspection.
It's not a D nor R issue- it's power and control.
(Score: 3, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 01 2022, @07:11PM
It's not D or R, but around here the R types are the ones that go all HOA gestapo, for the most part.
In a different part of the state we lived in an HOA for 8 years, the first 6 had D controlled HOA board and everything was cool. Then the Rs got control and hooo boy, here come the compliance fines: for everybody else, not them or their immediate neighbors, etc. etc. Even with the D board, I did have to do 3 rounds of "permitting" with the HOA, not the county, to build my shed. Shed must "match" the house, which was (barf) Tudor style with red brick up to 30', then brown wood and white plaster... Shed was built with brown wood and white plaster, then red plaster on the bottom 30" - anybody who might have cared didn't have good enough eyesight to catch the difference from the street, so I never heard peep about it.
Desoto County Florida is the place you wanna be, as long as you don't need to earn money from the town - or any town within 45 minutes' drive, don't mind hearing live fire target practice three to four days a week, can deal with Chillis being the best restaurant in town, etc. Horses are the big hobby there, or meth, depending on which crowd you hang with.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @09:45PM
Nobody will care till the place collapses or someone tries to get it inspected (probably after buying it). Ninja construction is a thing.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday September 01 2022, @04:47PM
It's very common among the rich people of London nowadays.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Thursday September 01 2022, @01:19AM
So they are identifying them from aerial images, then some AI is looking for "blue" or water? What if you have an indoor pool? Previously I guess they just used to measure if you had a very large water consumption and if found to have that they might make some investigation or a visit to verify. Sort of like how they find druglabs in buildings with unusual amounts of power consumption (that said these days it could just be a crypto-farm-operation to).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by rob_on_earth on Thursday September 01 2022, @07:33AM (2 children)
Start with basic pool cover looks like grass or decking and move on to adversarial AI generated covers that break the pool detecting AI.
But considering how AI have behaved in the past I wonder how many aren't really pools.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday September 01 2022, @07:44AM (1 child)
Your suggestion would cost more than the tax! And it wouldn't defeat a physical inspection which would be triggered if you were digging a great big hole in your garden!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2022, @04:53PM
Naaa. France has soooo many unemployed artists, this'll give 'em something to do.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by isj on Thursday September 01 2022, @02:50PM (4 children)
I find it depressing that the majority of comments here essentially boil down to "I don't want to pay tax".
The use of areal photos by the government to detect what is really going on is nothing new. Areal photos have been used here to find illegal sheds / extra buildings. There are restrictions here to ensure that there is enough uncovered land to allow water drainage.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2022, @03:35PM (1 child)
My interpretation isn't as much as "I don't want to pay tax," but it is more the idea of the power of automated technologies for mass surveillance for law enforcement. It was one thing back in the day where if law enforcement had some reason to be suspicious of me, that they would have to invest in the resources to follow and watch me. These days they can purchase location information showing everybody's every movement, and now can they not only follow me in exquisite detail if they wanted, they can also follow many many people who they didn't have reason to think were doing anything suspicious, but now that they have the data, why not? That's why this feels more disturbing than the way it was done before. You can argue for the merits of this, and I'd probably agree with you on the points, but it is another of many steps in the direction of a future that at least feels very uncomfortable.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday September 01 2022, @09:51PM
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2022, @10:01PM (1 child)
I find it even more depressing that you (and too many others) see it that way. It's called "binary thinking".
We're okay with paying taxes. The problem is: who gets to decide what is done with the money?
Not sure where you're based, but it goes back to one of the strongest factors triggering the American Revolution. They termed it: "Taxation without Representation". You can argue that we have representatives, but I'll argue that it's a tiny elite deciding what to do, and who are mostly out of touch with 1) what we want, and 2) what's going to be good for all, and in the long run.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 02 2022, @01:25AM
Then people should stop reelecting them at 95+ percent rates. Stop voting on party lines and actually vote on issues. Back efforts to ban gerrymandering so that politicians actually have to sway voters with their positions on issues. There's a very powerful Senator in Washington who has been there for decades. He's earned himself the nickname of Grim Reaper because he singularly prevents bills from being voted on (bills go to his desk to die), and he's very proud of the nickname. Can you imagine: this guy deliberately prevents Congress from doing their job, deliberately avoids doing his job, and he's proud of it and thinks it is funny. And they keep sending him back to Washington.
People should just stop acting like a spoiled two year old who doesn't get their way and throws tantrums with this "revolution" talk nonsense. If people are going to vote based on what "outrageous" issue some rich manipulative asshat with a nightly TV or radio show tells them to be mad about, then they get the government they deserve.
The "tiny elite" have their positions of power because the people who complain about elites are the ones who keep putting them in power. There was a Senator who's nickname was "Tricky Dick," and then people voted him president and are shocked, shocked! by his actions once he got into office. Trump had a 40 year resume of lies, cheating and deceit, and he wantonly and openly lies to his supporters, and guess what? They still vote for him. And it is the "tiny elite" that is the problem? We've met the problem, and the problem is us.