By Felix Salmon | Axios
With the breakup of the NAR cartel, the biggest potential disruption in the real estate industry is if buyers’ brokers are replaced by AI bots.
The big picture: A well-trained AI would probably provide a better, more reliable service than most human brokers — at a tiny fraction of the cost.
Where it stands: The U.S. has what Business Insiderhas described as “a glut of mediocre Realtors” who are “screwing over homebuyers.”
- As many as 2.8 million Americans are licensed as brokers, and even the National Association of Realtors said in a 2015 reportthat “the real estate industry is saddled with a large number of part-time, untrained, unethical, and/or incompetent agents.”
What’s next: An AI trained on the actions of very good brokers would be able to forward new listings to clients within seconds of them appearing; would be up to speed on the plethora of documents and payments that need to be brought to a closing; and could answer questions in an approachable, conversational style 24 hours a day.
- While a robot couldn’t go on home visits, it could certainly recommend local surveyors and other home inspectors.
“Current artificial intelligence is a long way from bots that are capable of completely replacing humans in most cases. But AI can already increase the productivity of workers to enable one good broker to do the work of several. Tedious tasks like document preparation and logistics can be automated and free up time for other functions that are difficult for AI to replace. Professionals will increasingly need to justify their value through judgment, creativity, and ability to leverage technology to boost their productivity.”
-Paul Coble, chair of Rose Law Group intellectual property and artificial intelligence department
