Zillow, Redfin introduce ChatGPT plugins

Arnav Pratap Singh - stock.adobe

Online brokerages and listings portals Zillow and Redfin both announced this week the integration of ChatGPT plugins aimed at aspiring home buyers. 

The real estate platforms rolled out the tools created with the assistance of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research group behind the development of ChatGPT. Both companies' plugins are currently only available to selected users of the AI platform, with waitlists open for future sign-ups.

The tools allow consumers to share specific characteristics of their desired property types, including price range, room count and neighborhood amenities. ChatGPT will respond with a list of matches drawn from the respective brokers' databases, bringing to buyers' attention potential homes they might otherwise miss using other search methods.

"I think the most powerful way the Redfin ChatGPT plugin can make buying a home easier today is by suggesting homes and communities that would not have been uncovered via a map-based real estate search," said Ariel Dos Santos, Redfin's vice president of product, in a press release.

"A home buyer can get suggestions of homes for sale in nearby neighborhoods with similar amenities they might not otherwise have considered," Dos Santos added. 

Zillow, which had been using artificial intelligence and machine learning since 2006, was eager to jump in and test the ability of ChatGPT.

"Generative AI is changing the way people search for information," said Zillow Group chief technology officer David Beitel. The ChatGPT rollout follows its announcement earlier this year of a natural-language search tool available on Zillow's app.  

"We look forward to developing more tech innovations with OpenAI technology in the future," Beitel said.

Zillow and Redfin join Big Purple Dot on the list of real estate-related businesses jumping on the ChatGPT bandwagon since its debut last November. In March, the marketing firm integrated ChatGPT's capabilities into its customer relationship management platform to help mortgage lenders and real estate agents better communicate with clients. 

The use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence has been met with a great deal of concern from regulators, however. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other agencies  recently warned they would be on the lookout for evidence of any potential biases or violation of fair housing laws in AI tools. 

On Thursday, the Biden administration released guidelines aimed to provide safety and mitigate potential risks in the development of new artificial intelligence tools. Included among the proposals is a public assessment of current AI systems, with the participation of developers from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and others technology companies.