by Miguel Guhlin, mguhlin@tcea.org | Read the TCEA TechNotes blog | Sign up for online courses to learn more

An Introduction to AI

Depending on who you speak to, AI is a climate destroying, memory-loss, soul-sucking destructive force, or a powerful technology that can work for the good of all. For folks in real estate, it’s easy to be skeptical. In fact, you should be. Let’s explore some aspects of AI and ways to capitalize on its power for the benefit of our clients, as well as ourselves.

What is AI?

Are there tasks you engage in that are repetitive, that require learning, decision-making, and problem-solving? Then AI can lighten your load. You can use AI as your personal assistant, an aide that can help you fine-tune a pitch, market properties, or manage paperwork. The human connection must still be made, and only you can do that. AI is unable to provide that human touch. You can explore how AI can assist you in your work.

What does “assist you in your work” mean, though? AI can boost your productivity, and impact your marketability:

• AI can boost productivity by 47% according to surveyed employers
• 42% of employers are actively looking for people with AI qualifications…yet 75% of employers are having trouble finding qualified candidates
• Over 80% of younger employees, including Gen-Zs and Millennials, are interested in picking up AI skills. Even with retirement in sight, roughly two-thirds of workers over the age of 55 – Boomers – indicate they would enroll in an AI course if offered by their company.”

“The lesson learned for forward-thinking organisations is, lean into the opportunity and excitement piece, and you’ll capture more employee loyalty, employee retention, etc.” Source: Dan Helfrich, CEO of Deloitte Consulting, as cited

Countries like the United States are prepared to take advantage of AI. Let’s take a look at specific AI tools that may be helpful, first in your personal life and then in your work.

AI in Our Personal Lives

You know, you may already use Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant to help you with smart devices. Chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, CoPilot make it easy to have conversations with AI. Ask questions in the moment, the same way you might ask Siri or Alexa for information about an actor’s net worth or what movies they starred in. Let’s take at a few simple uses of AI chatbots:

• Greeting card magic. Need to write a wonderful graduation message to your niece? Maybe, a congratulatory note to a friend, or celebrate secretary’s day with a greeting card? If you’ve found yourself drawing a blank at a critical moment, an AI chatbot can make life easier for you. Here are five prompts that will have people saying, “Wow, I wish I’d gotten a card from them.”
• Book Reviews. Read some books and want to write an awe-inspiring book review? Put together a short outline, then ask AI to craft a book review for you that incorporates the main points.
• Cover Letter Clean-up. Use AI chatbots to revise your cover letter in a way that matches your experience to the job requirements.
• Resume revision. Revise your resume to match a job description, or to tighten the language in your resume. Discuss pros and cons of this approach.
• Data Analysis. Analyze any collection of data, from your personal finances to developing a budget for your next trip.
• Travel Agent. Use a travel agent custom GPT (a chatbot designed for a specific purpose) to plan your next trip.

There are million and one uses of AI. Simply ask yourself, “How could I use AI to help me with an everyday task or learn something new?”

Did You Know?

Canva.com offers a variety of AI powered tools and apps, as well as design resources. Learn more about them via the TCEA Course, Canva Specialist.

AI for Professional Purposes

Ever found yourself wishing for help when streamlining operations, checking for errors, or enhancing customer service? AI-powered chatbots can help. For example, they can handle initial customer inquiries. This allows staff more time to focus on more complex tasks. AI can also analyze vast amounts of data.

Use AI to clarify decision-making processes, come up with processes, and flow-charts. Here are some specific ways you can use them:

• list of ways goes here - more to come

Available AI Programs

You can take advantage of several AI models. Each offers a slightly different tool set. While you can use these tools for free, paying the $20 a month can make a big difference. A short list appears below with a key distinguishing feature:

• ChatGPT. Available in two versions, free and “Plus” ($20 a month), you can use it as a writing assistant. With the paid version, you can use custom GPTs to analyze large data sets to make graphs, design images, and get a higher quality response.
• Perplexity. Available in two versions, free and Pro ("$20 a month), this AI excels at answering questions updating information it provides with current web citations. You can attach and generate images, as well as analyze documents. It also allows you to switch AI models from ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral, Google Gemini, and others. This is the author’s preferred general purpose AI chatbot.
• Claude. Boasting excellent word and sentence comprehension, it’s easy to give it large files for analysis and summary. Lacks up to date web citations in its Pro version ($20 a month).
• Microsoft CoPilot. A web-based tool that works for free with an account, offers up to date web citations, and image generation or analysis. This AI tool is integrated into a variety of Microsoft 365 tools. You may also appreciate it’s built-in image creator.
• Google Gemini. Available in free or paid versions, Google’s Gemini offers a wealth of analysis, up to date citations, and putting results in Google Workspace formats (e.g. Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc.). Gemini Advanced offers even more functionality. It is integrated into Google Workspace tools as Google Duet.

Each of these tools is improving daily. All of these tools can generate human-like text based on the input you provide it. Use these tools for drafting email responses, creating content for marketing and contract materials, or even, property descriptions. What’s more, there are many tools for creating head shots and videos.

Did You Know?

The paid versions of these tools ($20 a month) also allow you to create images based on a text description. You can find some more AI-powered image creation tools and AI art generators. ChatGPT Plus allows you to generate images from a text prompt, as well.

Custom Data Analysis Tools

What’s more, you can use tools like custom GPTs via ChatGPT to engage in data analysis and to generate graphs. Drop a huge amount of data from Excel or Google Sheets into ChatGPT, and you’ll be able to organize it. That might be handy.

Here are two resources to assist you:

• Three Steps to Easily Create a Custom GPT
• Make Data Analysis Easy with Custom GPTs

Specialized AI Tools

Below are some additional AI-powered tools that can assist you. Some great tools to use for several purposes:

Don’t limit yourself to these solutions. More are emerging every day, and there are many you can take adapt for your use.

A Partial Conclusion

Digital tools, especially new ones, do impact the status quo. Where would we be without email? Text messages? Smartphones? Or, paper and the fountain pen? It’s easy to think that these technologies will results in job displacement. But the truth is, they simply require us to learn how to use them, then push us to innovate. They force us to ask ourselves, “In what ways does AI change how I add value and how can I leverage that to the benefit of those I serve?”

Let’s lead the charge in embracing AI, demonstrating its value, and ensuring our industry remains at the forefront of innovation. Let’s create a future where AI and human intelligence work hand in hand to achieve greater success in the real estate and title insurance industries.