404 Media has obtained a cache of internal police emails showing at least two agencies have bought access to GeoSpy, an AI tool that analyzes architecture, soil, and other features to near instantly geolocate photos.
When researchers peeked into which areas of the image were being used, it showed that the tiny camera watermark from the Google Streetview car was being used by the model a lot.
That is, the recognition system had learned all the routes every Google Street view car had taken, and was using that in its recognition process.
Not all images have this watermark though, so in the cases the watermark didn’t exist it then resorts to more traditional geoguessr tactics.
Eh, kind of both.
When researchers peeked into which areas of the image were being used, it showed that the tiny camera watermark from the Google Streetview car was being used by the model a lot.
That is, the recognition system had learned all the routes every Google Street view car had taken, and was using that in its recognition process.
Not all images have this watermark though, so in the cases the watermark didn’t exist it then resorts to more traditional geoguessr tactics.