What Type of AI, For What Purpose

Real estate executives are under an onslaught of sales pitches for AI solutions. AI this. AI that. Pressure from stakeholders to integrate AI into their processes is being felt from the C-suite to building management level. Whatever your title, when evaluating AI for your real estate operations it’s crucial to:

1.      Determine whether generative or applied AI platform is appropriate.
2.      Have a clear idea of the problem are you trying to solve.

When evaluating, it is important to keep in mind the differences of generative AI (genAI) and applied AI.

A genAI platform (think an interface along the lines of a ChatGPT/Google Gemini connected to your building, vendor management, and tenant data) answers questions and synthesizes data: "Why did energy spike last Tuesday?", "Create report on tenant complaints this month.", "What maintenance has been done on AHU-7 in the last 6 months?".

It generates output by predicting what should come next based on patterns learned during training on historic data.

Applied AI works by using machine learning algorithms to analyze real-time and historical data, identify patterns, and make predictions or decisions for specific tasks (adjusting HVAC setpoints to reduce energy use, predicting when equipment will fail before it does, optimizing space utilization).

Applied AI platforms identify, predict, and act autonomously or with only minimal human supervision.

Both have value. But they solve fundamentally different problems.

If you need quick and organized output from fragmented data, genAI can help. If you need measurable operational improvements that happen automatically, you're looking at applied AI.

Make sure you're evaluating the right tool for the job.