Industry leaders said Thursday that artificial intelligence will reduce content production costs and make home searches better and more useful in the future.
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For many years, real estate agents included in listings relied on cost. Pictures were given, but what about the 3D Matterport tour? Or a floor plan? For some agents and some listings, these features are worth paying extra for. But the cost was certainly additional.
But things may be changing.
That was the argument Mikus Opelts, CEO of imaging company Giraffe360, made Thursday. Opelts appeared on stage at Inman Connect New York during a session focused on artificial intelligence and had a surprising prediction.
“The cost of media production will be zero,” Opelts asserted, adding a little later that in the near future, “all media production will be almost free.”
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Opelts’ point was that with the rise of AI tools, it is now possible to add depth to household lists. And ultimately, what is considered extra today is simply standard and relatively inexpensive.
“People will be able to access the list with more immersion,” he claimed.
From left: moderator Jonathan Klein, Drew Fabricant, Amy Gromowski, Gaetan Rouge-Babil, and Inman Connectum’s Mix Opelz of New York. Credit: AJ Canaria Creative Services
Amy Gromowski, Head of Data Science and Property Intelligence at CoreLogic, also appeared during the session and predicted that AI will bring about significant change. Among other things, she said the technology is likely to make it easier to “summarize huge amounts of data” and take that data to produce useful results.
As an example, she predicted that AI could ask someone to find a home that falls within a certain price range and lies, for example, outside a flood zone. Artificial intelligence could streamline such searches and provide further insights, for example by breaking down the condition of a home based on photos.
Gromowski also said that AI will help determine how serious it really is. And it may ultimately help them find other acceptable markets. For example, it suggests neighborhoods to Chicago shoppers in nearby Milwaukee that meet their search criteria. Gromowski’s point was that AI-enabled home search could prove to be deeper and more useful.
“It’s about being able to see patterns and trends,” she said of AI’s potential.
Panelists were enthusiastic about the future of AI, but challenges remain. Gromowski mentioned, for example, her company’s large “AI Governance Council” that includes people from various departments such as law, data science, and communications. The council’s job is to assess issues such as reputational risk and data stewardship and ask, “Just because you can, you should.”
Still, the possibilities are vast. Near the start of the session, Drew Fabricant (founder of marketing platform Scout) emphasized the importance of building trust and maintaining transparency as real estate professionals deploy new technology. I did. But ultimately, he suggested that the sky is the limit when it comes to AI.
“We’re in a wild time right now from an AI standpoint,” Fabricant said. “And I think you can do whatever you want with it.”
Email Jim Dalrymple II
