Researchers have used Google Street View to study hundreds of elements of the built environment, including buildings, green spaces, pavements and roads, and how these elements relate to each other and influence coronary artery disease in people living in these neighborhoods.
Using AI to conjure correlations out of data seems more like speculating about miasma and dust parasites to me. I suppose if we can drill down from the wealth of correlations we generate to find something actually useful, that’s potential, but good lord the examples in the article are not inspiring. I think if anything, the potential here is identifying problem areas and targeting solutions at them, something that actual people have to do currently, rather than establishing any link between built environment and heart disease that we don’t already understand, because, you know, it’s not 1256 anymore.
I just don’t really think that this is your field
It’s precisely because this is my field (public built environments) that I’m so skeptical of claims based on dubious statistical relationships. I’m willing to be convinced, of course, but if you had to go into a meeting with public officials and make suggestions, these are the sorts of questions you should be expecting. I am not convinced by the public health angle, so far, anyway.