Your next real estate agent might be a robot

The next time you buy a house, it might not be from a real estate agent. Real estate agencies and some startups have started employing robots to do some of the perfunctory jobs that their realtors typically do, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their workplace. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) highlighted three of these companies: A brokerage firm in Woodland Hills, California named REX, another California property management company, Zenplace, and a Brooklyn-based startup called VirtualAPT. Both REX and Zenplace employ robots to interface with clients. The former places a robot named REX in seller's homes to answer questions and collect data, while Zenplace uses robots to help their human agents communicate remotely with clients.