By Kevin Hawkins with Korey Hawkins | Vol. 2 Post 51
REAL AI is a human-created weekly roundup of all things related to artificial intelligence in real estate and emerging AI innovations in other sectors likely to impact our industry. We post a new edition every Friday, and our free newsletter is delivered every Monday. Please subscribe.
Avoid AI recording devices
A real estate broker friend who works for a major regional brokerage asked me about Plaud Note and Plaud AI. At first, I thought he was mistaking Plaud for Claude, a top AI Chatbot.
However, after a brief conversation with ChatGPT, I learned that Plaud AI is known for Plaud Note, an easy-to-conceal AI-powered voice recording device to record, summarize, and transcribe meetings and phone calls.
It utilizes AI, specifically ChatGPT, to transcribe recordings into text and generate summaries.
They now also have an even smaller device: Plaud NotePin – small enough to don on a necklace.
A tech leader at his brokerage was touting Plaud Note, so my friend spent a couple hundred dollars on the device and the required Plaud AI subscription.
The problem with separate AI recording devices like this is threefold: 1) it uses inferior tech, 2) it is potentially legally dangerous, and 3) it is a massive privacy risk.
Inferior tech
All an agent needs to record a conversation is Otter.ai and their smartphone. They don’t need – and we would recommend strongly against – a hidable recording device.
The significant advantages of using your phone and Otter are its quality and speed. Otter.ai is far ahead of ChatGPT in terms of its understanding of accents and transcribing them quickly. It has been available since 2018 and has become the transcription champ in the last 18 months.
Plaud has been around since last year – 2023. A general rule of thumb in AI is that the longer the company has been around and the more dollars they have, the better their AI. It’s nearly impossible to catch up to AI market leaders. Otter wins hands down in terms of how an agent will use it.
Legal quagmire
I was stunned that anyone at a major brokerage would recommend a device like this, especially for agents who work in a two-party state. I live in Washington, a two-party consent state, where it is illegal (RCW 9.73.030) to record a conversation unless everyone knows about it and has agreed to it.
In Washington state, it’s a gross misdemeanor and, worst case, up to a $5,000 fine and 365 days in jail. But if you record with malicious intent, you could be charged with a Class C felony – worse case: a fine up to $10,000 and 5 years in prison. Twelve states have two-party (or all-party) consent laws but together they represent 43% of the US population: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington. California and Florida alone have more than 400,000 Realtors.
Due to expediency and convenience, I fear agents will NOT properly disclose at every meeting that they are recording and obtaining consent, which they must do with either a Plaud device or their smartphone.
Using a smartphone with Otter makes it much more apparent that you are recording and not trying to hide anything. Using a tiny recording device might rattle some clients or, worse, limit their trust in you.
Privacy problem
To me, this is the deal killer. Plaud uses ChatGPT 4o and 3.5. Our research shows they are not using a gated version of ChatGPT. ChatGPT itself verifies that. It means your private client conversations are uploaded to the web and used to train ChatGPT.
All it takes is a security breach or the disclosure of confidential information in a ChatGPT query to create a privacy nightmare.
Moreover, Plaud AI is a Chinese-based company, and when you read their privacy policy, you will see that they disclose several ways in which they share data with others. Just sending your private client conversations to ChatGPT for transcription does nothing to protect your privacy. Caveat emptor. (-Kevin)
AI Liner Notes: ChatGPT for Grandpa – Call 1-800-ChatGPT
Your grandparents may have mastered Facebook, but my guess is they are hesitant – maybe fearful – about using AI. ChatGPT has a solution to make AI part of their daily lives.
Grandpa can now call ChatGPT. Honestly, it is at 1-800-ChatGPT.
It has a 15-minute time limit per phone number per month.
After a few calls, perhaps you can get your grandparents to download the ChatGPT app instead. It’s like AI training wheels for the less technically inclined. Brilliant, really. (-Kevin)
Google Whisk is a sign of what’s to come in AI imaging
Another fun AI experiment from Google Labs was released this week: Whisk.
The concept is what’s so exciting: uploading a photo or image to manipulate. Their moniker is “Prompt less, play more,” as the process is super simple. Select from three image types to make: Plushie, Sticker, or Enamel Pin.
Hit the “Start for Scratch” button, upload your photo or image, pick a scene, and choose a style.
If you start with your headshot, as I did, it might freak you out.
But this experiment is for personal use, not work. What’s important about this for agents is what this approach is advancing: it is getting easier and easier to take an existing image and instantly modify the scenes and settings.
AI photo generation is moving closer to creating the Easy Button.
Check out the lively demo video here: youtu.be/fyFDztZxlEc. (-Kevin)
AI Facts – Newsletters
- One-third of newsletter specialists with 200+ subscribers earn $1.5k+ per month
- 64% of newsletter specialists said that millennials make up their biggest subscriber demographic
- 29% of newsletter operators state that subscriber growth/retention is their biggest challenge
- 34% of newsletter specialists are saving over three hours per week with AI-powered tools
- Nearly 75% of newsletter specialists said running a newsletter can replace a full-time
Source: The Hustle (-Korey)
AI Headlines
The latest housing scam: Using AI to impersonate your agent or lender | 12/14/24 Washington Post
Generative AI is making it harder for homebuyers to determine if they are being duped.
How AI in Real Estate is Catalyzing a Paradigm Shift – 16 Applications and Real-World Examples | 12/9/24 Appinventiv
Real estate’s future will become more reliant on AI solutions.
20 AI tools for real estate agents to get a competitive edge | 12/12/24 Real Trends
AI tools available now for real estate professionals.
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses Gets Live AI and Live Translation | 12/17/24 XR Today
Meta Smart Glasses can record video and translate conversations in real-time.
Agents are the ‘third wave’ of the AI revolution | 12/19/24 ZDNET
AI agents will serve as our digital assistants, dominating AI breakthroughs in 2025. (-Korey)
AI Quote of the Week
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