If you think artificial intelligence (AI) is only the stuff of sci-fi movies and Silicon Valley techies, think again.  You likely are already using simple forms of AI without thinking about it. A popular bank recently notified customers that it would be closed for an upcoming holiday but its “AI-driven phone guide is available.”  The guide uses artificial intelligence to ask meaningful questions of callers and deliver precise information.

The real estate industry has begun to embrace AI using chatbots to interact with potential clients, predictive analytics to help agents locate potential listings, and ChatGPT to help write more enticing listings.  As the industry becomes more familiar with both the possibilities and limitations of AI, use of AI-powered programs is likely to expand. Here’s a guide to help you understand AI and its potential impact on the real estate industry.

AI has the ability to read, aggregate, and analyze everything from neighborhood attributes, property values, sales histories, crime reports, school data and other pertinent information to generate price estimates for properties and foresee market trends. AI can do what would take humans far too long to accomplish – examine tons of data to suggest opportunities for investment. Experts warn however, that it’s almost impossible to verify the accuracy of AI’s work, so it should not be relied upon completely.

Using data collected from real estate and other websites and digital advertising, AI can help identify leads.   Using data such as homeowners’ income to debt ratio, how long they have lived in the house and family size can help agents identify potential sellers and buyers.  Chatbots allow agents to be on call, virtually, 24/7.  Using conversational language (and foreign languages) chatbots can engage potential clients and follow up with emails and other marketing information.

Personalization and consistency are the hallmarks of AI driven marketing. Bots create personalized emails and videos for current and potential clients.  With one AI-driven tool, videos can be recorded once and sent to multiple prospects where the agent greets each one by name.  

ChatGPT and other chatbots can compose marketing emails and AI bots can automatically send targeted emails to clients based on their home search criteria.

If you’re not a great listing composer, chatbots like ChatGPT or Google Bard can help.  Ask the bot to write a real estate listing and include all the property details to highlight.  In seconds, the bot will generate the text for you to use or edit.  You can even ask the bot to rewrite the listing using a different tone.

The pandemic boosted the use of virtual tours as buyers were either unable or reluctant to personally view listings.  Using AI technology, virtual tours now allow 3-D panoramic views of properties and engage clients using interactive tools such as floor plans and voice descriptions.  Quality virtual tours and 3-D walkthroughs give clients a feel for a property with a few mouse clicks. Simple virtual tours can be produced with smartphones or special equipment but more sophisticated 3-D tours may require a virtual tour professional.

AI has tremendous potential to improve customer service by quickly answering questions and directing clients to useful information and tools.  As REALTORS® embrace AI technology, they likely will find it can automate routine tasks, personalize marketing outreach, and free up time to be used more strategically.  

Algorithm– In simple terms, an algorithm is like a recipe – a set of instructions for performing a task.

Artificial Intelligence – Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.  Much of the AI we see in use today is actually a subset of AI called machine learning.

Bot – The term bot is a shortened version of robot and is a software application programmed to automatically execute specific tasks as part of another computer program or to simulate human activity. 

Chatbot – A chatbot is a computer program that uses AI and natural language processing to simulate human conversations.  We most often see them in the form of virtual assistants for customer service.

ChatGPT and Bard – A sophisticated artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) allows users to ask questions or request a task and get detailed responses.  For example, ChatGPT can suggest a travel itinerary, write a poem, or compose a real estate listing.  Google offers its own chatbot, Bard.  Try it free here.

Machine Learning–Machine learning uses data and algorithms to teach machines to intelligently imitate human behavior.