WHY ‘PI’ BEATS AI EVERY TIME

If you were to believe the tech advocates, Artificial Intelligence is the universal panacea which is going to make all of our lives infinitely better, and maybe even remove the need for any of us to go to work, writes Sue Hall.

Now I am no Luddite: I have always believed in embracing technology where it can help you do a better job more efficiently and, crucially, more effectively.  Whether it is online property searches, 360 degree walk-throughs or a video from a drone allowing buyers a real overview of a property, it has transformed the way we sell houses.  No doubt, as AI gets better, it will have a role to play.

But equally, we should always ensure that technology is our servant, rather than us being its slave.

I mention this because we are increasingly seeing AI-generated copy creeping into the property market.  If you have noticed a certain same-ness about property particulars recently, with bland, lifeless copy riddled with American spellings and robotic corporate speak – that is lazy agents relying on AI.

What a computer can never understand is that people buy houses as much with their emotions as they do with their rational, logical brains.  AI will try its best to match the measurable criteria such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms, whether there is off-road parking or the garden faces south, but an algorithm is ultimately poor at matching human beings to their dream home.  For that, you need another human being.

AI simply can’t anticipate taste, or the fact that when it comes to the crunch, a buyer may trade practical requirements for something emotionally better, such as a great view, a sense of community in the area, or simply the way a house ‘feels’.

This is particularly true in Norfolk, especially in those areas – like the north Norfolk coast – where houses are genuinely unique, and where there is certainly no convenient one-size-fits-all.

I have said many times before that estate agency is not about bricks and mortar, but about people and dreams.  And that is something that AI simply doesn’t get.

That is why, while I am very happy to harness the power of technology, I still prefer to rely on my own abilities when it comes to writing property particulars and matching potential buyers to homes which might be right for them.

A good estate agent will rely on experience and instinct, will listen to what buyers really want, and will invest in the process at an emotional level.  In other words, they will have ‘property intelligence’ and not just artificial intelligence.