Message from our CEO

AI and superhuman agents

A philosopher named Michael Polanyi observed that we humans grossly underestimate ourselves. What is known as ‘Polanyi’s Paradox’ helps explain why machines are not going to take our jobs. We know more than we know. Moreover, we can’t explain the depth and breadth of human intelligence. If we can’t explain it, we can’t program a computer to replace us.

There’s no denying that thinking machines can complete huge, complex tasks in a tiny slice of time. The Googlederived AI search engines that drive royallepage.ca can comb through millions of listings and photos in seconds, and far exceed client expectations with the results. If the buyer tells the machine behind our website how long they are willing to commute to get to work, our ‘bot will simultaneously comb through gigabytes of traffic data, and present only properties that fit. The magic doesn’t stop there. Users can share that they will be commuting in rush hour – via bicycle – and the listings will be narrowed accordingly. These amazing features and more have helped royallepage.ca become Canada’s leading real estate company website.

As powerful as computers are, what can be accomplished with technology alone is limited. While systems like ours do a phenomenal job of chewing through vast mountains of data, they fail miserably in understanding and addressing core human needs. If we were selling houses to robots, we would need a lot less people. Selling to humans is much more complex. For example, when a house-hunting couple disagree, the clues will often be subtle and non-verbal.

Our agent will pick this up and address the conflict; the high-tech iPhone they carry, with the infinite power of cloud computing at its disposal, cannot. Not today, perhaps never.

Dealing with humans requires judgement, creativity, insight and empathy. Machines are inflexible. People are infinitely unique, and so are their needs and wants. It is the uniqueness of people that preserves an agent’s place at the centre of the real estate transaction.

What computers can do is improve our working lives, in the way that the wheel made human lives better when it was invented many years ago. Early wheelbarrows were expensive, but according to Smithsonian researchers, they would ‘pay back’ their owners in mere days through labour savings. Greek craftsmen then spent more time building homes and less time hauling rocks. What an appropriate metaphor for our industry!

Software is the wheelbarrow of the 21st century. It is not going to replace the careers in sales, management and support that are necessary to keep a real estate company thriving, but it is going to allow us to generate new leads, to operate more efficiently with fewer mistakes, and to deliver higher client satisfaction in the process.

Royal LePage is known across the real estate world as Canada’s technology leader. We understand the balance required between high-touch and high-tech.

With 2020, we begin a new decade, and a new era of leadership. Welcome to the marvel that is rlpSPHERE – a digital ecosystem that seamlessly brings together everything a REALTOR® and their brokerage needs to succeed in today’s marketplace. It all begins with dynamic new agent and office websites and mobile apps that automatically engage and respond to consumer curiosity and client requests. There is also an integrated marketing centre that not only leverages the robust data from royallepage.ca, realtor.ca and elsewhere to drive leads, but also delivers smart tools to nurture them. Administrative pain points are removed to free up time to work face-to-face with clients, and intuitive client services are used to delight existing customers and magically convert their happy experiences into gratifying online reviews and valuable referrals.

Without hesitation, I can say there is nothing in the industry today that comes close, and rlpSPHERE is future proof. It is designed to evolve as our large and talented technology team develops new solutions to enhance your professional lives.

What does the decade ahead hold? We will continue to nurture the partnership between human and artificial intelligence. A machine will be there to assist consumers, day and night, and then will introduce them to their Royal LePage agent, through the method and channel most likely to succeed. Advancing technology will help the consumer with research and inquiry. The REALTOR® will take the lead for serious client engagement and in closing business.

For over a century, Royal LePage has been Canada’s most trusted real estate company. In the future, clients will place an even higher premium on trust and transparency. We will enrich our offerings with layers of new data to improve the consumer experience. Our customized solutions will provide our agents such a competitive advantage that they will have engaged before the competition knows an opportunity exists.

The pace of change in our industry is both enthralling and daunting. In order to succeed and remain relevant, continuous learning is mandatory. I promise you, we will be there to guide you with the best learning services in the business.

The great business thinker Peter Drucker once said, “The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.” So true, and let me add this: embrace the bold steps we take today, for they lead us down a path towards even richer rewards.

Phil Soper, President and CEO

Get in Touch

Email: president@royallepage.ca

LinkedIn: @soper

Facebook: Philip.Soper

Twitter: @PhilSoper