Among many other findings, our recent Accommodation For Students survey shows that students have mixed feelings over the use of AI.
Despite this, most students (63.6%) have used AI for support online, including during their hunt for an appropriate place to live whilst at university.
AI-powered sites
This doesn’t necessarily mean that students are hopping straight onto Chat GPT to find accommodation types, but as sites begin to incorporate AI-powered tools into their they are becoming faster and smarter – as a result portals like Rightmove and Zoopla are becoming more attractive as their efficiency improves - and now student landlords are looking to do the same.
Certain accommodation sites have already tapped into the ‘smart system’ by making searches more refined and easier for users. Additional features like location, house type, price and amenities can be selected in the side bar. Our survey showed these features to be attractive and many students recommended using these filters to save time.
The rise of AI
As AI and the likes of Chat GPT continue to increase in popularity, with 61.3% of our survey respondents being familiar with the concept of AI, the landlord and housing sector can expect to see referrals and requests being made as a result of its assistance.
On average, students ranked their comfortability of using AI to be 6.4/10. However, the survey showed that trust needs to be built when it comes to providing information through AI as an average of 5.3/10 trusted AI to provide accurate and helpful information when they needed support online.
Advantages of using AI-based tools
35.2% admitted that they liked using AI because of the fast responses, with the same number of participants admitting the 24/ availability to be incredibly useful.
With computerised tools becoming vastly more intelligent, recommendations can now be personalised via the use of AI too (13.1% said they liked this feature.)
On top of that there is also the plus side of easier navigation (11.6% enjoy this advantage) and reduced human error (2.7% mentioned this to be a positive.)
Concerns about using AI when needing help online
It goes without saying that there are a few risks when it comes to the reliability of using AI, here’s what our participants thought were the most concerning:
1. Misunderstanding of questions or requests (68.9%)
2. Lack of human touch (43.1%)
3. Limited capabilities of AI (41.9%)
4. Privacy concerns (35.9%)
5. Other issues including environmental concerns, errors and inaccuracies, and ethical objections (5.7%)
As the student housing sector emerges as Europe’s top prime real estate investment , landlords and providers need to work out how they can improve the efficiency of their services to maximise their income yield. This might include incorporating AI into their marketing.
