Artificial Intelligence in Real Estate: A Trojan Horse to Agents

Artificial Intelligence will be the boon and then the downfall of the common real estate agent. Already we're seeing the role of the letting agent get undermined by technology -- instead of controlling all information they increasingly focus on acting as the human element to a sometimes arduous process. What if cognitive computing enables agents to be better professionals and make better recommendations to their clients? What if access to cognitive computing power, and the data necessary to power it, becomes the 21st century equivalent of the MLS utility? Sure, you love a bot to simplify scheduling but what happens when more of that "human" interaction is centralized into chat and phone agents sitting in a central location and real estate agents are salaried tour guides?