Some might remember the TV show, “The Jetsons”.  It was a futuristic cartoon from the 1960’s that envisioned a not-to-distant future relating to technology, space travel, communications, robotics and interpersonal relationships.

The original show ran just one season from 1962 to 1963, depicting life in 2062. While a lot of what was “suggested” about our future, such as flying cars, robot maids, video calls, smartwatches, food printing and space tourism, many parts were labeled as farcical and whimsical. But are they?

In one episode, George lamented that the robot maid Rosey, an old out-of-date model was upset that she was unable to “think for herself” (also a bit of social commentary of the 1960’s). As George attempted to assist her to do so, he commented (a pop-up balloon over his head) “soon, with new technology Rosie will be able to think for herself…” Yes, he was correct.

Other shows and movies made various predictions, evidenced by flip phones and IPad-like tablets shown in “2001 A Space Odyssey” (1968) as well as in the TV show, “Star Trek” (1966-1969).

One common theme running through all sorts of future predictions is our human interaction with computers. And how computers can complement our lives while frustrating us. But for the longest time, computers were only able to do tasks that were programmed by humans.

Today, we see an explosion of a new technology; AI (Artificial Intelligence) which globally first evidenced itself in a chess match during the 1950’s and 1960’s. AI went through various challenges, mostly computing power sufficient to allow a computer to think on its own.

As we entered the 1980’s, AI grew in prominence, as the fear of the unknown rose. Hollywood was quick to embrace the fear of what AI could become, to take control of our lives.

In 1983, the movie “Wargames” was released, which among other technology issues, was a demonstration of AI capacity, when the WOPR computer started thinking for itself to determine which nuclear war to commence. More movies followed, including the “Terminator” series showing how Skynet began to think for itself to destroy the human race, and the 2001 film “A.I Artificial Intelligence” which again was a futuristic portrayal of the dangers of AI.

AI is here and has numerous applications in our industry. Yet with any new technology there are some long-standing facts:

1. Realtors and licensees will be slow to embrace the technology, mostly out of fear and/or misunderstanding.
    
2. We are being bombarded with articles, blogs, video presentations, live demonstrations, and the actual end-product of AI, in our listings, marketing, contract writing, disclosure language, client communication and more.
    
3. The delicate balance of diving in knowing nothing and muddling through, versus learn and learn before putting a toe in the water. Sometimes, it is just best to dive in and swim.

NAR and AAR have been presenting various articles, webinars, and blogs about AI, as I am doing here. In my 43 years in the industry, I have seen numerous technologies developed making our processes easier. Some have been a shooting star only to flame out, while some staked a foothold in our lives and business practices, such as hand-held tablets (1989) and smartphones (1994). Both of those technological advances brought programs and apps, that are now woven into the fabric of our everyday lives and business practices, many already incorporating AI.

AI will not flame out. It is and will remain an integral part of our lives, personally, socially, politically, medically and in business.

For example, ChatGPT is one AI function that can be incorporated into your personal or business life right now. Need good remarks in your listening? ChatGPT can write that. Need good language for a specific disclosure? AI can do that for you.

It is here, it is not a fad, not a shooting star ready to flame-out. As scary as Hollywood portrays it, and TV shows and media predict it, AI has weaved its way into our lives, mostly for good, yet sadly, for some bad. We need to be able to see the difference.

NAR has a plethora of articles as it impacts our business, specifically this one which is a primer, entry level 101 guideline…

https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/technology/start-experimenting-with-ai-now

While it is not critical to gain expert status now, it makes sense to begin somewhere. As the above article reflects, be sure to learn the do’s and don’ts up front.

As a school administrator and instructor, I will begin to use AI to refine some of my class outlines, language, and marketing of our real estate school.