Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a huge digital innovation that is creating amazing opportunities for businesses. In short, AI is the process of creating intelligent machines. The machines are ultimately computers, but they are able to carry out tasks that are usually done by people.
The human or intelligent aspect comes in as they are able to recognize speech, to learn and to problem solve. To enable them to take their intelligence to this level they need to have access to a lot of information. To use this information they need to implement knowledge engineering, allowing them to assimilate the information in a meaningful way. With knowledge engineering, computers are able to observe the world around them, understand data that they collect and act independently to put the data to the best use.
Many industries have already started using AI technologies to automate processes such as information capture and data processing. The technology offers a huge step forward in efficiency as computers are able to do the time-consuming day-to-day tasks while people can focus on their skill sets and deal with more complicated issues that aren’t so easily automated. Companies are able to work smarter and more efficiently, harnessing the power of the information and data that they gather and using data as the key driver in decision making. The symbiosis between man and machine forms a bit part of the ways businesses are evolving and digitally transforming.
The future potential of AI is quite incredible. It has the means to do so much more than save time and make processes more efficient. With the aforementioned knowledge engineering, it has the capabilities to convert raw data and communications into meaningful and profitable customer relationships. Moving forward AI will be able to make decisions that will improve outcomes for customers and businesses alike.
How AI is forming the future of AEC and Real Estate firms
Data is at the heart of a successful AI strategy and increasingly, AEC and Real Estate firms have begun to adjust the way they collect, store and process data. Industry-wide sharing of big data is leading to increased collaboration between teams and the breaking down of silo structures within organizations. However, data use within the AEC and Real Estate industries remains largely unregulated, requiring a degree of consensus about best practices and necessitating increased investment in and awareness of cyber-security. There is also a growing understanding that as the buildings become increasingly embedded with technology, data such as energy consumption and maintenance information can be accessed and perceived directly in the built environment, instead of living in spreadsheets.
How AI Is Changing The Real Estate Industry
The Real Estate industry hasn’t been involved too heavily in many of the significant technical innovations that have influenced other industries over past decades. However, more recently, signs are showing that there is a need for change in response to customer demand and AI is at the forefront.
AI within the real estate industry has the potential to reduce both costs and wastage and improve both customer service and efficiency. On top of this AI has the ability to help safeguard the industry against cyber threats. Although the industry is behind the overall trend when it comes to adopting AI technologies, some great innovations are starting to be used within real estate:
- Property management – keeping units occupied and tenants satisfied is one of the biggest challenges for property managers. Advanced machine learning can help with these issues by finding tenants, locating cost-effective vendors and proactively recommending maintenance and management tasks. Meanwhile, tenants are able to use chatbot features to pay rent online and report issues. The chatbots work as liaisons between tenants and landlords allowing for a constant stream of communication.
- Data analytics – as with many other industries, AI algorithms are allowing the real estate industry to make sense of big data. This allows for more targeted marketing, finances and accounting. It also has the potential to be used in a customer-facing way to help customers make their buying or renting decisions based on data.
- Intelligent search platforms – major search engines are using AI to help users get more value from their searches. Searches are becoming more sophisticated, and users are now able to search based on ROI, neighborhood reputations, and many other property details. This puts the power in the user’s fingertips to make an informed decision before making a purchase.
- Chatbots – there are many applications for AI-powered bots within the real estate industry due to their relatively straightforward integration. One example is the use of chatbots during virtual tours, allowing common questions to be answered quickly and easily.
As in most industries, the concern for the real estate industry is the level of automation that will take place and whether it will result in a loss of jobs. This comes down to how organizations decide to incorporate AI. The aim is to increase efficiencies for agents and customers alike in order to generate the most viable leads. The combined efforts of AI intelligence and human capabilities offer amazing potential. Efforts should be targeted towards enhancing the work of real estate agents instead of replacing it.
The opportunities for implementing AI technology in real estate are truly exciting. The benefits aren’t as yet being realized but they are most certainly on the horizon, and it’s a digital disruption that real estate agents most certainly can’t ignore.
