Artificial intelligence (AI) has become so frequently referenced and mentioned in business and technology news that it can feel like another trendy buzzword, but make no mistake: AI is on track to bring big changes to the way the real estate industry functions. 

There's a saying among AI experts that AI won't replace people — people who use AI will replace those people. This means that the businesses and individuals who adapt to the new technology are better positioned to see their business evolve and grow, while those who avoid AI are more likely to lose out on productivity and future successes. 

The good news is there are several ways to begin utilizing AI tools to assist you in generating content for your next listing and start accelerating your business. 

Here are four ways you can get started with AI in 2024 — and one important consideration. 

Generate listing descriptions

Using AI to generate listing details is one of  the simplest and easiest ways to begin leveraging these tools in your business. 

Just pick your preferred tool and input some basic information about a property, then ask AI to write up a general description. Ta-dah! You've got a listing.

Virtual staging

Now your description is ready — but how are the photos? The visual representation of the property is crucial and potentially even more impactful than the listing description. 

Maybe your photographer sent over the pictures but there's just something a little … off? The furniture might not be quite right, or one or more of the rooms doesn't feel like an accurate depiction of the home. Or maybe some rooms are empty and that's not how you want the listing to look when you post it. AI can also help in these situations. 

Some AI tools include algorithms that can analyze imagery and identify potential ways to improve furniture and decor placement, furniture selection and even color schemes. These tools can often implement the changes with realistic visual renderings, typically at a significantly lower cost and in much less time than a professional editor.

Interactive floor plans 

Many potential homebuyers want to understand a home's layout from the comfort of their laptop or phone before viewing the home in person. 

According to the Zillow Consumer Housing Trends 2023 report, nearly three-quarters of buyers ranked a floor plan that fits their preferences as a "very or extremely important" characteristic in the home. Listings with interactive floor plans are now getting more clicks than ever before, and AI is making it easier to generate these types of home listings.

Image enhancement 

It can be a silly but frustrating problem: You've received media from your photographer, but there's an out-of-place object sitting on the living room floor. Or the toilet seat is up in a bathroom photo — never an ideal restroom image for a listing. Or maybe the kitchen shot would be perfect … if it were just a little brighter. 

These are all things that AI tools can help rectify with just a few clicks. And in some cases, AI can even help you adjust what season it is outside or make a fuzzy image look sharp and crisp. 

The most crucial detail about using AI 

Artificial intelligence can significantly speed up routine tasks and content creation, and it can crunch data and generate content faster than any human. 

But adding your own personality and expertise into everything you generate is the most important part of the process. AI does not have opinions based on years of experience in the industry, and AI cannot duplicate your individual style and tone when you draft an email to a client. 

People who use AI may replace people who don't — but "people" is still the most important part of that sentence. Utilizing a new technology can seem stressful and daunting at first, but at its heart, the real estate business is all about people — and so far, no one has found a way to make machines good at building relationships.