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Restb.ai releases new option for automated property descriptions

Canva; Craig C. Rowe

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One of the real estate industry’s leaders in computer vision content detection is adding the written word to the list of benefits its artificial intelligence engine can generate.

Restb.ai has launched a new product to automate property descriptions used in websites, portal descriptions and other marketing endeavors, according to a statement sent to Inman.

Property Descriptions by Restb.ai leverages three types of AI to create descriptions using a number of tonal approaches, including, descriptive, playful, standard, professional and simple. And it can do so in 50 languages.

“Our eight years of experience building real estate-specific computer vision models, deep ties to MLS software vendors, and the recent developments in generative AI models make our solution a truly unique and unmatched offering,” said Chief Product Officer Nathan Brannen in the announcement.

Backing the process is Restb.ai’s image content scanning, or computer vision, which can “read” still photos to identify finish types, room features and other embedded, static data. It also uses natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLM).

The product is available to clients and multiple listing services in both the U.S. and Canada. It’s also being sold to brokerages, listing portals and real estate marketing vendors through API integrations. MLSs and their vendors can easily pass photos and basic listing information to the Restb.ai API to receive web-ready property descriptions.

“Restb.ai’s computer vision technology can detect over 300 property features, many of which go beyond the details available within a typical listing,” the announcement reads.

The software also incorporates local information, such as retail highlights and natural amenities.

Completed descriptions stem from a user front-end that allows the user to choose features manually, as well as import photos to be read by Restb.ai. Users can choose the tone, insert manual edits and save the narrative for multiple uses.

ListAssist, which also uses computer vision to generate property copy, and Nila June, offer similar real estate-centric services, the goal of which is to remove creative copywriting from the agent’s task list. Naturally, not everyone who sells a home is a good copywriter. And even for those who are, automation tools in this space can offer creative kickstarts when writer’s block appears.

Click on any marketing advice column or technology bulletin and it’s hard to miss the surging presence of ChatGPT, a product built by the company Open AI. Even in its few short months of popularity, concerns arise about AI’s growing impact on business, ranging from deep-fake imagery to overly-realistic chatbot conversations leading to confused clients.

However, used in the proper business context and under the auspices of a reputable service provider, AI innovations can be tremendous productivity tools, as Restb.ai and its colleagues are demonstrating.

Inman contributor Rachel Hite used an AI tool called StudioShots to create headshots of herself. The results are impressive, if not a little off-putting when juxtaposed with what could happen if someone didn’t have the best of intentions.

“The results are shockingly realistic,” Hite said. “The skin texture is next level. They even kept my wrinkles and ‘evil 11’s,’ as I call them.”

“But it does make you think: If AI can get this so right, so quickly, the question of what’s next may knock your socks off.”

Email Craig Rowe