Dominic Parravani from Durrants comments on the growing influence of artificial intelligence within the property industry, and the difference between an AI estate agent and a PI estate agent.
AI is suddenly everywhere. Academics, lawyers, writers, students, and all those who fact-check and refine their work online are turning to AI.
It’s also increasingly used by estate agents. But reliance on AI has its drawbacks in our business. If you want to churn out the same thing as every other agent, that’s fine. But when we market a property we want it to be uniquely special, to match that uniquely special buyer. And just as no two properties or people are the same, no two estate agents are either.
Any experienced estate agent will tell you that matching people with property shouldn’t be left to an algorithm. How often has a buyer been to view a property which on paper ticks all the boxes, only to be disappointed when they actually see it? It may have sounded as if it had everything but they just didn’t like it, or it didn’t feel right.
AI can’t anticipate taste, or the fact that when it comes to the crunch a buyer will trade certain requirements for something practically or emotionally better, such as a great view, access to schools and transport, or a large garden. The permutations of a house buyer’s desires and dreams are infinite and way, way beyond the capabilities of AI to predict.
So if you want an agent who relies on experience and instinct, who listens to what buyers need and is invested at an emotional level, then choose an agent with property intelligence and not just artificial intelligence. We are definitely a PI estate agency.
