High-tech vs. high-touch in real estate is a debate that’s been playing out for years, but artificial intelligence (AI) is shifting the conversation in ways few expected. With AI-powered tools advancing at breakneck-speed, brokerages are now facing a crucial decision: lean into technology or double down on the personal connection that has long defined the industry?

Redfin set the standard for high-tech early on, creating one of the most heavily trafficked property search websites in America. Despite this dominance in consumer engagement, the company has struggled to outpace traditional brick-and-mortar firms that emphasize high-touch service. Buyers and sellers still seek personalized guidance, a role that real estate agents have historically played. However, AI is closing the gap… perhaps even surpassing human agents in certain areas.

Autonomous AI agents are changing how consumers interact with real estate firms. Unlike human agents, who may be slow to respond or lack in-depth knowledge about listings they don’t personally represent, AI models can analyze vast amounts of data instantly. WAV Group’s research into agent response times found that more than half of consumer inquiries went unanswered, and those that did were often delayed and lacked depth. AI doesn’t have that problem; it’s always on, always learning, and can engage with buyers in real-time, in any language, with deeper insights than many human agents can provide offhand.

A prime example of this shift is the recent case of an AI real estate agent in Portugal that generated $100M in sales for Porta da Frente Christie’s, as reported by Fox Business News. This wasn’t a human agent using AI as a tool—it was a fully autonomous AI handling conversations. If consumers can get better, faster, and more reliable answers from AI, does that diminish the necessity of traditional agents?

Real estate professionals have long argued that their expertise, negotiation skills, and local market knowledge make them indispensable. That’s true, but AI is quickly catching up. These virtual agents can now hold video conversations that feel remarkably human, offering instant market trends, neighborhood insights, and property details without hesitation. Consumers are adapting. The initial discomfort of speaking with AI fades quickly when the experience proves more helpful than waiting on a human.

This doesn’t mean the death of the real estate agent. 

High touch still matters—especially in complex transactions where emotions, negotiations, and legal intricacies come into play. But AI is filling in the gaps where human service has traditionally fallen short. The firms that figure out how to blend high tech with high touch will be the ones that thrive in this new era of real estate.

Headwinds

MLS Regulations

MLSs have not really grappled with data permissions using AI. It is well understood that brokerages must control the licensed data and not republish it in ways that violate IDX or VOW data rules. There are many companies – including Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, Movoto, and Compass that allow AI tools like ChatGPT to read and learn everything about real estate. To see how this works, simply use ChatGPT for an address search and see the results and links that you get. Our industry has labored since 1997 to restrict third party access to listing content, but AI has found a way around it. Today, anyone can launch an AI-driven search site with full data access, without an MLS data license agreement, and without being a brokerage. I am no legal expert, but I fear that there is nothing that the MLS can do about it. Microsoft was the first company to launch such a site. Now keep an eye out for more.

Legal and Ethical Compliance

Compliance is also a big problem for brokerages that use AI. It will take a lot of training to make sure that an AI agent does not violate the law. On one popular brokerage website that has AI search, I looked for homes in “all white” neighborhoods and received a search result. I did some other insensitive searches in my test; the results were definitely not compliant with laws. Much in the same way that MLSs have not stayed on top of managing access to listing data with AI, LLMs have generally lacked the instruction to ensure that AI agent answers do not violate laws. 

Human Preferences

Perhaps the biggest headwind is that AI is better for real estate agents and consumers. Agents do not want to be available 24/7 to answer mundane questions by consumers who are at the top of the funnel. Most consumers take close to a year to purchase from when they start their home search. Companies like Rayse are tracking the hours of a buyer agent for the first time. Agents are amazed at the number of activities and the amount of time they invest in a buyer. They want automation–and so do consumers. Nobody wants to be a lead, only to wait and hope for an agent to answer a question. There is comfort in talking to an AI agent that is knowledgeable (assuming that the AI agent is good). When you call a human with a question, you feel like you are interrupting or like you are committed to a connection. It’s more comfortable to start conversations with an AI agent–and only connect with a human when the AI hits its limit.

The company used by Porta da Frente Christies is eSelf.ai.

Screenshot from eSelf.ai of different types of AI Video Chatbots.