37% of Canadian real estate listings could be AI-written. Here’s where agents are drawing the line.
More than a third of rental and property ads in Canada are likely being written with artificial intelligence, according to a new study, but many agents using the technology say knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to start.
The study, conducted by AI detection firm Originality.ai, looked at listing text in more than 15,700 rentals and 56,300 sales listings in 20 cities across Canada on Realtor.ca during the first two weeks of May.
Using its own AI tools, it detected that 37 per cent of listings likely used AI, while 30 per cent of listings were likely human. Thirty-three per cent were inconclusive because they were too short.
Krista Bradley, real estate agent at Century 21 Millennium Inc. in Collingwood, Ont., told Real Estate Magazine she would have expected the suspected AI usage rate to be higher. She uses ChatGPT to give a final polish on the listing description she’s written, and to generate snappy openings for listing videos, she said.
“I really feel like it’s a tool that most people are certainly not embracing fully, but that are exploring subtly. Most of us, I think, are trying it.”
Originality.ai reported the highest likelihood of AI usage is in Calgary (70 per cent), followed by Moncton and Hamilton (63 and 62 per cent).
How to spot an AI-generated listing
According to the report, listings likely written by AI are significantly more likely to use generic and clichéd words, including “exceptional”, “ideal” and “nestled”.
In comparison, language learning models (LLMs), a type of AI used to understand and generate text that sounds human-written, are less likely to use emotive and superlative language, such as “dream”, “gorgeous” and “best”.
“LLMs tend to stick with safe, neutral, predictable language,” reads the report.
Grammar is a good indicator of AI use too, it says. Listings using shorthand, like “rm” for “room” or “br” for “bedroom”, have only a 10 per cent likelihood of AI usage, according to the research.
Ads for homes for sale were more likely to be AI, with 41 per cent being marked as computer-written. Only 21 per cent of rental ads were flagged as having used AI.
The risk of losing your hard-earned brand
Bradley says while she is adopting AI in her workflows, she’s also mindful of not losing all the work that she’s put into crafting her brand and voice that resonates with her niche.
“So I always start by writing my own content,” she said.
She says she’ll plug in her own written words and use ChatGPT as a tool to provide a touch of refinement, or use it to uncover an angle or feature of a home or the neighbourhood she hadn’t thought of.
“In order for it to be successful, it has to refine the work you’ve already been doing, because that’s what has established your unique positioning,” she said.
“I think there’s a real risk with it failing when it comes across as completely disconnected from your tone, from your regular sort of manner of speech.”
Bradley, who has a background in marketing and publishing, says to get the most out of AI, the key is providing a solid input, and a smart prompt.
“When you can nail that piece and you can harness that, the ability to automate and systematize some of those processes will come. Admittedly, I’m still figuring it out. I think a lot of us are in that camp.”
A compliance Wild West
In Originality.ai’s dataset, 37 listings included AI disclosures for altering photos, or just 0.05 per cent of the data. At the same time, no listings in the dataset included any disclosures about using AI to write their listings.
“The regulatory boards researched for this study generally permit AI-generated text with no required disclosures, however, Realtors are liable for any false claims made within the text,” reads the report.
Andrew Stephens, co-owner and managing associate broker of EXIT Realty Metro in Halifax, N.S., says the rapid evolution AI and the quick pace it’s being adopted adds a whole new element to his job.
“It’s really hard to police it. We have a mid-size office which has 90 agents, so it’s a full-time job to try to make sure people are compliant with what they’re posting on social media and things like that,” he said.
Stephens doesn’t identify as a big AI user, except for in the backend of his business. On the consumer-facing side, he says he’s comfortable with his photographer replacing a grey sky with a sunny one in a listing photo. On the writing side, he says he’ll use ChatGPT as a starting point, or for ideas, but not to use the output verbatim.
Stephens says lately, he’s noticed an increasing number of listing videos “blowing up” on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube that appear to him to be too flawless for real life, suggesting AI has been used.
“It’s a slippery slope in terms of misrepresentation on a listing. I think there’s a big difference between virtually staging a property and disclosing that it’s been virtually staged, and creating a whole new yard out of AI which is not actually representative of what the property really is, he said.
“There’s a fine line of using (AI) to help make a listing stand out and help it catch people’s eyes better, versus going down the rabbit hole too far and misrepresenting something.”
Bradley says at the end of the day, it takes a human touch to remain competitive.
“In any town there are thousands of great Realtors, and people gravitate to the real estate agents that speak to them in a way that resonates. If you’re using AI and you lose that, you’re gonna lose your audience,” she said.
“That’s my fear.”
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