coach. But having an AI available to a student whenever they need it rather than in a weekly call could be trans - formative. And what if a Zoom call would allow attendees to hover over one of the Brady Bunch windows and see a short bio of the person there? It could identify who you want to reach out to later and give you some con - text for the speaker, like when you join a group conversation at a confer - ence break. To take that a big step further, how many times have you been at a conference and met someone and they find out you are interested in, for example, investing in Maryland or buying self-storage? They respond, “I just met Sally Investor and she’s also interested in that. Let me intro - duce you.” It’s much harder to do that at a virtual conference. But an AI could mine the conversation and suggest introductions between indi - viduals who should meet (and are willing to be matched). This is sort of an eHarmony for investors but could be a real win for investors attending virtual conferences. I hope that more live events come back. There is something about the energy of the room, having lunch with people who are just as excit - ed as you are, and having detailed conversations with others who share your interests that can’t be duplicat - ed with technology. But adding an AI to virtual classes and online con - ferences could restore much of the value that has been lost during lock - downs and provide next generation improvements to REI education. •
And the most intensive real estate instruction was usually one-on-one coaching. It’s much harder to brain - storm and mind map online. Even the Q&A portions of normal real estate instruction are challenging, especially with larger groups. And networking (beyond just meeting individuals) is really hard. It’s almost nonexistent. These drawbacks may reduce student engagement even while attendance is up. Is there some way to improve these aspects of real estate investment education in a vir - tual environment? Maybe. Computer intelligence has come a long way. A computer can win Jeopardy and beat chess grandmasters. Recently there was a breakthrough and those at the forefront of the field believe a com - puter will soon pass the Turing Test (a computer responding to ques - tions cannot be distinguished from a human). Are there ways that a com - puter can help with some of these challenges in REI education?
As an educator (and a student) of REI, I know that most of the ques - tions from most of the students are common questions. But they need the answer when they ask and it needs to be tailored to their specif - ic question, not a generic FAQ, or a referral to recorded lecture number. An REI instructor who can provide these sorts of answers, perhaps through an artificial intelligence (AI) engine, will dramatically increase their value to students and increase the engagement of their students. I’d buy that education; I wouldn’t have to sit through a long lecture to get the one answer I’m looking for. Such an engine would also be a huge benefit in coaching. A student in real time could ask questions and get answers. A coach could later review the session and tweak the responses. A good AI could even pro - vide some of the emotional support and encouragement that a coach provides. I would only recommend this in addition to live calls with the
Steve Streetman is a real estate consultant specializing in deal structuring and the use of cryptocurrency. Look for his book “Cryptocurrency and Real Estate: How to Profit as Bitcoin and Blockchain Transform Real Estate Investing” available on Amazon in 2021.
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