By Jason Shutt

Raise your hand if you’re using AI tools at work. Now keep your hand up if the people you work with are using AI. And keep that hand up if the way other people are using AI at work is changing the way you work.

I’m going to assume everyone’s hands are up. And I’m going to assume everyone is figuring out how to use AI more effectively because of how those around us are using AI

For years, the real estate industry has been sending me a myriad of AI tools and tactics for agents like me to make workflows more efficient, but what I did not expect was how my clients are now using AI to change their end of the workflow in which I am part of.

Most unexpected? How I need to adapt to this new human behavior. And fast.

I am currently working with two different buy-side clients that are using their bot of choice to analyze the package of due diligence documents delivered to us from the sell-side of the table. This package typically includes, but is not limited to, title commitment, seller disclosure, pre-sale inspection reports, septic permits and maintenance records, geotech reports, etc. These packages of docs can easily run into the hundreds of pages when printed and placed on a table for a work session of reading with a highlighter – like I still do, given I’m a tactile learner!

But now? Within minutes of my delivering documents to a buyer client and before having a chance to review them myself, I’m getting their AI-driven executive summary sent back to me.

This is a phenomenal advancement in this part of the process.

I can certainly appreciate how fast information is now processed and how easy it is to find answers. Gone are the days (maybe) of scrolling through hundreds of pages looking for answers. Many buyers don’t even know the questions to ask, so their bot is empowering them by asking – and answering – their due diligence questions for them.

That’s progress. Both clients I’ve mentioned happen to be tech executives and have sent me their executive summaries as a multiple-page PDF and as a website (yes, multiple-webpage summary of findings!). Needless to say, these clients are taking their due diligence to a level I did not see coming at the start of this year.

However, this process is also horribly alarming.

Because the other side of the coin is assuming the bots will not hallucinate and will reliably deliver accurate findings. That’s a significant assumption. Because they can hallucinate. And they do deliver some incorrect findings.

One of these buyers’ summaries had a section voicing concern regarding how the seller disclosed environmental hazards without the required explanations. The truth? The document had no disclosure of environmental hazards. The bot simply misread the document and left the buyer with unfounded concerns. Major concerns. Concerns that had no basis.

How did I discover that AI made such an error? I did things the old-fashioned way and read the document myself.

I now find myself in an unexpected position: I am learning from these clients and other experts in the AI field to develop a system to analyze these disclosure packages and create my own executive summary, but one that is 100% accurate. Because psychologically speaking, there are adverse consequences to a buyer’s feelings about a property, and hence its value, and their decision to pursue it with an offer, after unnecessarily going through that sort of negative mental state.

What does this mean for my practice? I now find myself in a position where I need to protect my clients from themselves. Or rather, I need to protect them from their hallucinating AI bots. After all, the stakes are high when purchase and sale agreements are legally binding.

What will this do to the value of a real estate broker in this new era? Frankly, I believe it makes expertise like mine even more valuable than it was before AI. Old school expertise like mine – knowing what questions to ask, where to find the right answers, who to call to discover more context, perspective, and expertise – will soon be a rare skill in a world of overwhelming digital noise and assumption the bot knows best.

I’m sure glad I learned my craft long before AI analysis was in my clients’ repertoire. And I’m sure glad I work with clients who are on the front end of this new behavior and are willing to help me adapt.

Because I know this about myself and my craft: I’m not just going to evolve, I’m going to thrive. The average agents, on the other hand, are going to try to survive but will eventually die off.