“Wisdom cannot be outsourced. It cannot be hacked. And it definitely cannot be automated. It has to be earned—the slow way, the hard way, the right way.” Ryan Holliday, author
AI has been a wonderful tool for our real estate business. For me, using AI has been similar to having a college intern. I wouldn’t turn an intern loose in my business without strict instructions and would not allow that intern to produce any content intended for clients without strict review.
Successful Usage of AI in Real Estate
Here are a few examples of how we are successfully using ChatGPT and Claude to assist us:
- I will choose the comparable sales and ask ChatGPT to compare these properties to a subject property and recommend a list price.
- In this exact example, ChatGPT’s initial response was not valid. One time, it assigned a value of $50k for a swimming pool. I explained that swimming pools did not add value in the Park City real estate market and Chat needed to go back and rework the numbers. Another time, it threw in an address that I did not provide. When I pointed this out, it apologized to me. Clearly, I would not have received a valid response in either instance without supervising Chat and having the background and experience to understand that it was off the mark.
- When I write the remarks for a listing, I ask ChatGPT to edit them and make them more concise and lifestyle-oriented. It usually does a wonderful job at this. Occasionally, I need to remove some of the more “flowery” descriptions.
- I have used ChatGPT to edit my blog to make it more concise. I never ask it to write a blog.
- I have used ChatGPT to suggest blog topics that are trending.
- I have asked ChatGPT to provide insights into relationships and have asked it for suggestions on how to phrase bad news to an employee or client.
- We have asked Claude to help with our monthly real estate updates. Again, strict market knowledge is required as some of its responses don’t make sense.
In each of these instances, we combined local market knowledge with the power of Artificial Intelligence to save time and improve the process for our clients.
Unsuccessful Usage of AI in Real Estate
Here is an example of where AI went wrong and did not serve the clients. Ryan Serhant is a famous agent in New York City. He was on a reality TV show and is now a social media influencer, in addition to his successful real estate business. He shared a story on his Instagram page of a $50 million condo he had under contract, where he represented both buyer and seller. Several weeks into the transaction, the buyer asked AI if he was paying too much and it said that he was. Meanwhile, the seller asked AI if he was selling too low and AI said he was. The deal almost fell apart over this.
Two things are very interesting to note here:
- People who ask AI questions believe its answers like they are facts. This is in spite of the fact that AI will often be unable to provide facts (like comparable sales) to justify its response.
- AI will give you the answer that you want to hear, not necessarily an objectively correct one. It can be an echo chamber of validation, which explains why both buyer and seller received different answers.
The bottom line is that AI is a useful tool. It can save lots of time and do extraordinary things. It cannot replace the wisdom and experience of qualified professionals who are able to back up their opinions with facts.
Read more about my thoughts on why AI will not replace real estate agents.
What has been your experience using AI? Please share!