Propertymark reported on a recent study commissioned by Searchland which delved into the attitudes of UK property professionals towards AI technology and its potential impact on their roles within the workplace.
Surprisingly, only 13% of respondents expressed worry that AI could make their jobs redundant in the future. Despite headlines touting fears of robots replacing humans, the majority of professionals in the sector remain optimistic about the future coexistence of AI and human expertise.
Interestingly, opinions on the benefits of AI in the industry were divided.
Half of the respondents believed that AI technology could revolutionize the way they work within the property sector, while the other half remained skeptical. Those who supported AI's potential saw its greatest value in automating and streamlining laborious or time-consuming tasks, as well as facilitating data collection, processing, and analysis.
Among the surveyed professionals, only 13% confirmed that their companies had already implemented AI technology. Among those who had adopted AI, data processing emerged as the most common area of application.
This suggests that while the property sector is gradually embracing technological advancements, it is still in the early stages of widespread AI adoption.
Striking a balance between human expertise and AI-powered solutions
Despite acknowledging AI's capabilities, a significant 84% of respondents emphasized that technology alone cannot replace human guidance and intuition. Similarly, 78% believed that over-reliance on technology could be detrimental to the quality of service they provide to clients.
Striking a balance between human expertise and AI-powered solutions seemed to be the favored approach among professionals, with just over half (51%) suggesting a combination of both was the best way to interact with consumers.
Searchland makes strides in AI integration
One notable company making strides in AI integration within the property sector is Searchland itself. They recently introduced modern AI technology into their platform to streamline the process of identifying suitable land plots for developers.
This AI-powered interface enables developers to ask questions about local planning documents, saving them from the arduous task of manually combing through lengthy documents. Instead, the platform generates succinct paragraph answers, making the process significantly more efficient.
Mitchell Fasanya, the Co-founder and CEO of Searchland, highlighted the value of AI in the sector. He emphasized that AI is not about replacing people but about empowering them to perform at their best. He said:
“AI has become a bit of a buzzword in recent months, with companies looking to jump on the bandwagon just because they think they should. It’s currently the ‘in thing’ and it’s perhaps for this reason that the industry hasn’t truly considered its potential capabilities and applications.
“However, AI is already proving an invaluable tool and even in its infancy it’s being utilised to considerably reduce process timelines, increase operational efficiency and improve the service provided to the consumer.
“In this respect, it’s the next chapter of the Proptech story and we’re already seeing big names within the sector sit up and take notice, with Rightmove bringing an AI expert onto its board just this week.
“AI isn’t about replacing people, it’s about allowing those people to work to the best of their abilities. At Searchland, we’ve implemented AI tech to help improve our product and proposition, adding value to the consumer, but not at the expense of our team of outstanding humans.”
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