Watch the conversation with tech entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale as he explains how AI can help real estate professionals excel — and whose jobs are at risk.
Editor's note: The Playmakers podcast explores the biggest shifts in real estate with those who are shaping the industry's future. Check out our top takeaways and watch the latest episode from host Andrew Flachner, co-founder of RealScout.
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On this episode of the Playmakers podcast, Palantir Technologies Co-founder Joe Lonsdale predicts how artificial intelligence will impact jobs — including those in real estate.
AI is "getting better every month," Lonsdale explained, and real estate agents who use it wisely will be in the best position to succeed in an industry that will likely become even more competitive than it already is.
"Does it replace all agents? Probably not for a very long time," Lonsdale said. "But does it help the best ones and put pressure on everyone else? Almost for sure."
Don't get left behind: Agents who want to prepare for AI should start now. "Try out the new technology; don't be afraid," Lonsdale urged. "You should be playing with it and having fun with it. And if you're not, you're not going to keep up."
How AI can help: Lonsdale admits that AI "is very good at some things but has very bad common sense." AI cannot, for example, replicate the relationship an agent builds with a client. But it can streamline workflows and time-consuming paperwork.
"What is it that the real estate agent as a person is still going to be better at and needed for — which is probably a lot of things — and then what is it that the AI can do for them?" Lonsdale encouraged agents to consider. Once an agent figures out how AI can make their work more efficient, they "will be able to handle a lot more."
Which jobs are at risk? A more efficient agent won't need as much human support in the office, "and they'll have a lot more AI agents helping them," Lonsdale said. "And each agent will then be able to do a multiple of the work."
Efficiency improvements will make real estate more productive, "and it makes each agent, by the way, a lot more profitable," he added.
As efficiency and profitability levels increase, so will the competition. "Probably the best agents win, and the second- and third-tier agents probably get replaced."
Who will survive? Industry "insiders" who have strong connections and are experts in their markets will be best equipped to succeed — especially those who learn to ride the "AI wave."
"There's just all these human networks the AI's not in because it's not human, and no one wants to talk to it about things," Lonsdale said. "It seems to me like the very high-end agents will actually not only persist but actually be a lot more productive using AI."
And those who can't keep up? "I do think it probably does replace a lot — and is probably already starting to — a lot of the low-end and middle-end [agents]," Lonsdale said.