What makes Paris look like Paris? (According to Google)

Most Parisians can recognize a picture of Paris pretty instantly. From the Haussmann facades to the way the cobblestones are patterned in the street and the look of the drain pipes. But scientifically, what makes Paris look like Paris? Five scholars from Carnegie Mellon and the École normale supérieure have tried to answer this using geotagged imagery from Google Street View through a proprietary algorithm and then identifying the distinctive … bla bla bla. It’s easy to get lost in the scientific speak towards the end of this video but there are some interesting observations about some of Paris’ unique features.