> There are too many factors obfuscating the landscape in real markets
On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, machine learning gives us a powerful set of tools to analyse these factors, which we could use to come up with a model that learns from the market to predict consumer surplus (but you're right about the naive economist approach).
In a closed system. There are too many factors obfuscating the landscape in real markets (most notably consumer access).
The only tidbit is, in a new market you can overcharge.