I might be in the minority, but I feel like almost none of the press that AI is getting is very good.
Like, the things people wish it was used for – doing chores, or solving tough world issues – are being set aside in favor of using it for things people would rather do themselves (like create art).
Apparently, you can add landlords to the list of people willing to use AI for evil.
The New York Times reported that some property managers are using AI to handle inquiries and complaints from their tenants – and the bots are also doing the dirty work of harassing them to pay rent, too.
Companies like EliseAI are being used by 2.5 million apartment owners across the United States, and their bots are meant to be as human-like as possible, according to CEO Minna Song.
“People come to the leasing office and ask for Elise by name.”
One tenant, Ray Weng, says dealing with bots instead of humans has made apartment hunting worse than ever.
While searching, he often had to speak to AI over chat or the phone, and tours were self-guided once he arrived in the building.
“I’d rather deal with a person. It’s a big commitment to sign a lease. If it’s all automated, it feels like they don’t care enough to have a real person talk to me.”
One advantage, perhaps, is that AI doesn’t have to sleep and can be contacted 24/7.
On the downside, the AI bot is as likely to send you a YouTube video on how to fix something yourself as it is to report the actual issue for repair.
We’ve seen examples, and many of them, of AI giving bad advice in other venues; there’s no reason to think that it would give flawless feedback to tenants in need, either.
There is also a moral question, as currently, EliseAI does not reveal that they’re a chatbot upfront. There is still no law requiring them to do so, but many think even that little concession would help re-establish trust between landlords and tenants.
At least, that’s what Alex John London, an ethics and computational technologies professor, thinks.
“All things considered, it is better to have your bot announce at the beginning that it is a computer assistant.”
Time will tell how this turns out.
I’m not sure anyone will feel too optimistic about landlords voluntarily doing the right thing, though.
If you enjoyed that story, check out what happened when a guy gave ChatGPT $100 to make as money as possible, and it turned out exactly how you would expect.