- A generative AI tool is designed to help real estate firms decide which properties to buy and sell.
- Proptech startup Termsheet created the product, which it calls Ethan.
If you work in real estate, your new coworker might be named Ethan.
That's the moniker of a generative artificial intelligence product from proptech startup Termsheet. The AI tool does the work of a real estate analyst.
Through machine learning, Ethan has been trained to compile a range of property and market data. It then drafts memos recommending which properties real estate companies should buy and sell, Sahil Rattan, Termsheet's chief operating officer, told Insider. It's the first technology of its kind to hit the market, the company said.
Several companies, whose properties are worth a combined $100 billion, are using Ethan, according to Termsheet.
Ethan "really replicates the act of what a human is spending hours and hours doing," Rattan said.
He would know. Rattan was once a real estate analyst, where he spent an estimated 90% of his workday doing what Ethan is engineered to do, he said. Rattan thinks tech like Ethan will eliminate mundane tasks assigned to analysts and clear up time for them to do more of what they actually got into the business to do: things like dealmaking, building their network, and strategizing.
Getting more done in less time has been key for one client in particular, Termsheet CEO Roger Smith told Insider. The client is looking to snap up commercial real estate properties whose prices have cooled from just a few years ago. Using AI to identify prospects is a help, Smith said. "They now need to do more of this, and do more of this faster," he said.
While Smith said he doesn't see AI's speed as a job killer for real estate analysts, there are concerns across industries that the introduction of AI will eliminate the need for some roles. Airbnb cofounder Brian Chesky, for example, predicts AI will likely push down job listings in various industries because of the technology's abilities. At the same time, Chesky expects AI could usher in "millions of new startups."
Termsheet said fewer than 100 clients have started using its AI tool and that pricing for the service varies.
Since the AI tool ChatGPT went live to the public in November, businesses in nearly every industry have been racing to capitalize on AI.
In real estate, experts predict AI has the potential to speed up work, make decisions based on large data sets, and limit risks, according to consulting company RSM. But there are limitations to this technology, too, the company's researchers said. For example, AI could spit out faulty information based on an unverified data source, per RSM.