2019 Multifamily Innovation Digital Magazine
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So why has AI now become the<br />
latest buzz-word in Real Estate<br />
and Construction Tech? Exponential<br />
growth in computational<br />
power coupled with the ability to<br />
cost-effectively store the estimated<br />
2.5 quintillion bytes of data<br />
created every day has brought<br />
computing to a point where<br />
algorithms can be effectively<br />
developed and provide accurate<br />
results.<br />
The unfortunate reality, however,<br />
is that while we have been able<br />
to harness increased computing<br />
and storage power to make undeniably<br />
revolutionary technology,<br />
the field of computing has made<br />
relatively little progress towards<br />
the original vision of Artificial<br />
Intelligence.<br />
Despite this, there are innovative<br />
startups using today’s AI to help<br />
the Real Estate and Construction<br />
industry keep up with the demand<br />
for higher outputs, reduced cost,<br />
and solve other difficult challenges.<br />
One problem these startups<br />
face is a lack of data. Nearly<br />
all AI solutions require massive<br />
amounts of reference<br />
data for training. Without<br />
training data, the solutions are<br />
academically interesting but<br />
lack the accuracy to be useful<br />
in real-world projects without<br />
significant human oversight.<br />
Since the industry has proven<br />
to be a laggard in technology<br />
adoption, the historical data<br />
needed often does not exist.<br />
Larger, more tech-savvy firms<br />
may have some data sets but<br />
are wary of sharing it with<br />
outside parties. Although<br />
data availability will increase<br />
as new technology adoption<br />
increases, the overall lack of<br />
data will continue to be a significant<br />
barrier to <strong>Multifamily</strong><br />
tech startups in the near term.<br />
Recent venture capital attention<br />
in the space should<br />
increase the number of companies<br />
actually developing defensible<br />
technology solutions.<br />
Increased investment dollars<br />
will also attract more innovative<br />
talent to the market and<br />
allow startups to scale faster<br />
so they can provide value on<br />
larger projects. But we have a<br />
long way to go and have only<br />
scratched the surface of AI in<br />
<strong>Multifamily</strong> tech today despite<br />
the hype.<br />
CTO, Matthew Ohlman is a software engineer<br />
passionate about building engineering<br />
teams and products that push<br />
the boundaries of technology in order<br />
to transform industries. His 15 years of<br />
experience include creating a variety of<br />
product solutions for the AEC industry.<br />
He performs technical due diligence on<br />
potential investments and for corporate<br />
enterprises in addition to managing<br />
Shadow’s advisory program.<br />
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