AI-powered search using Natural Language
Search is a large part of the life of consumers. It is quite challenging to think of how people got through before Google. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing search through an application known as natural language processing (NLP). Instead of merely searching for the user request, NLP seeks to break down what they need, understand the context, and return more accurate results.
For e-commerce platforms, optimizing search functionality through NLP is essential to success, and creating an excellent customer experience. We are going to look at how that applies to the real estate sector.
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A brief overview of NLP
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The objective of NLP algorithms is to understand and process human language. Computers typically work with structured data like a table or transactions and have only recently been able to handle human language complexities. Some examples that we encounter every day are emails being recognized as spam, Siri, and Alexa noticing patterns in speech through voice recognition or predictive text on smartphones. We are so accustomed to these things in the 2020s that the technology behind them is taken for granted.
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NLP in real estate
If you consider a typical real estate website, it uses metadata to find the most relevant results. Generally, this includes the types of property, the price you are willing to pay, where you want to live, and the number of bedrooms as a minimum.

source: zoopla.co.uk
However, within every listing, there will also be a long text description of the property containing important details.
The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing workspaces and retail stores to adapt to new rules around social distancing in recent times. Reuters spoke with several analytics companies that are adding offerings in light of coronavirus. AI can produce reports to help safeguard people and mitigate crowding issues. The software highlights spots where people are clumping together in busy areas, tagging those who cannot distance, or even highlight if they are not wearing masks. As a result, new processes are put in place, or people are given masks instantly after a human operator is alerted by the AI platform.
A further application could be in retail stores to track human traffic in different areas. AI can derive insight into products that are not getting seen and augment decisions on where to place stock. Furthermore, it can present information on how people interact with products, such as when they pick them up and put them down, inferring possible barriers with the purchase decision process. For example, if people are always picking an item up but not purchasing it, the store may need to investigate the packaging and product details.
Phenx ensures that AI is made accessible and at an affordable price. The automated solution allows businesses to make decisions quickly, often in real-time, and adapt to ever-changing situations.