ChatGPT Appraisal Error Sparks Ethics Debate
A recent post by an appraiser trainee on an online forum described a troubling situation involving the use of ChatGPT to generate content for an appraisal report. The trainee admitted to using ChatGPT to write a market summary section without properly reviewing it first. This resulted in factual inaccuracies making it into the final report delivered to the client. Upon discovering this, the client, a local bank, threatened to file a complaint against the trainee. The trainee is now considering falsely claiming to have personally written the problematic section in an attempt to avoid consequences.
This scenario highlights important ethical considerations regarding the use of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT in appraisal work. The 2024-25 version of USPAP addresses this in the Q&A section. It confirms that credible appraisal results demand the appraiser’s professional judgment, meaning AI output cannot be solely relied upon. Appraisers must verify and take responsibility for any AI-generated content used. While AI will progress enormously, for now appraisers must still produce valid work themselves.
Additionally, AI use may conflict with certain USPAP rules:
- The Ethics Rule prohibits discrimination. Studies show AI models can contain biases which could violate anti-discrimination laws. Relying solely on AI may expose appraisers to biased content and appraisal results.
- The Competency Rule requires following all applicable laws. Appraisers can’t control AI’s information sources. AI may utilize copyrighted or confidential data illegally.
In summary, appraisers must thoughtfully navigate the use of AI like ChatGPT. Upholding USPAP compliance and credible, non-discriminatory appraisal results remains imperative. The scenario described underscores the potential pitfalls of over-relying on AI without proper human oversight.
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This is the dumbest thing ever. It was already proven that AI chat GPT pulls information from all sources, of which included social media, as if it were a fact. You signed the report and took the responsibility of all of its content, including the crap produced by AI. So if you think the software clock forms that fill in the comments and even pick the comparables an appraiser should use won’t fail you, think again. On a long enough time line you will get caught with a crappy reporting results and fallout will be horrendous. Never leave your trotting to the hands of anyone or anything else but you. Otherwise Pepe can paint a picture in court of what they think you did because you used something that you can’t control nor determine how it arrived at its results.
Note the irony of the GSEs using collateral underwriting tools that provide risk assessment, adjustment models, suggested comparable, etc are relied on every day and not a single one of the UW has a clue how the adjustment models have been arrived at, but they are relied on daily. The proprietary software offers no explanation on what data was included not the methods of how the results are arrived at. As an appraiser we are not permitted to include such data. We have to understand from where it came from and how it was produced. Why are the underwriter allowed to use materials and software that intentionally hide the methods and data used to arrive at such?
I’d accept ChatGPT before I’d accept a cost approach assessment any day. Snake oil vs. contemporary observation. In your defense ask to read ANY Reconciliation of Value comment for the typical lender generated appraisal! ChatGPT is a step above 10 year old boiler plate! LOL In all fairness the analysis should be only about “specific” information vs. “general” information.
Anybody that’s choosing a 10-year-old boilerplate comment is in jeopardy of a lot of issues. it doesn’t mean that they’re doing anything wrong, however, you might want to review them with any changes of laws, Fannie Mae requirements, etc. But it doesn’t make them wrong.
One of the chief (no pun intended) reasons that lenders want to pay half the expected fee is because they (with AI) have figured out that modern appraisal practice is all about the “general” and not the “specific” And, it certainly has nothing to do with “right” or “wrong” – it has everything to do with lack of “specific” contemporanious analysis reflective of the data. Put in a less kind way, do you really think the mechanical adjustments reflect the comparables or are they more reflective of boiler plate? LOL
Don’t know what reports you are writing my mine are very specific to the subject and based on the market and closed sale contained in said report.
What is beyond stupid?
Oh yes….posting something stupid.
This almost doesn’t sound real. I mean….how can anyone actually be that stupid? Then I remember….we are in 2024. Rather than having raised the bar to improve everyone, society has been lowering the goal posts to let everyone over.
The person who used ChatGPT to generate their report and then post on social media they actually did this……..smh
My bad………….for thinking we appraisers would be any different.
This is probably the SAME PERSON that sleeps while their Tesla drives.
It’s not difficult or time consuming to write a market summary section. They are different for each property. While I use templates I read the template and edit it as needed for the specific property.
I’ve actually tested AI to write some articles about different real estate topics. You really have to read what AI wrote and make necessary edits. I think it’s okay to use AI generated content in some instances as long as you fully read and edit it.
Maybe the person who made that comment on FB was fake and just trying to make appraisers look like lying, lazy idiots. I’ve seen some users pretend to be appraisers to comment about appraisal racial bias on some posts. They are clearly not appraisers. Some of the posts just promote the false racial bias narrative while others pretend to be a racist appraiser to attack appraiser reputation.
It was a post on reddit that was deleted today. The trainee likely realized it was unwise to publicly discuss lying to a client when the client could potentially identify them based on the post.
We embedded the deleted post thread as a PDF in the article.
https://www.reddit.com/r/appraisal/comments/1bqz4hj/caught_using_chat_gpt_to_write_market_report/
WorkingRE just promoted AI for home inspectors writing reports, had a big article and everything. Using the mouse to click and request AI assist then copy the language in would take longer than just free typing. Roasted in the comments section. The winning comment was the appraiser whom was surprised anyone actually read the report, lol. Cheating; The industry standard, rather than the exception. I don’t see the difference between using AI vs outsourced typing services. Both are irresponsible practices which makes everyone else look bad.
“Specific” doesn’t mean very factual or data thrown on the wall. Specific is your reporting data with meaningful analysis showing correlation to attributes that dats suggests reflect market behavior applicable to the property being appraised. Can be something so obvious as “This comparable property is clearly superior, but sets the upper range of value for this sub-market”.
Agreed with the simplicity of it. But that’s effectively saying the same thing that I am.
Tell the truth and say you’re a trainee. You’re in training and you learn from your mistakes. Apologize and say every report is a learning process in this phase of your career and you appreciate the opportunity to correct said mistake. My God. Did she go into her job knowing everything? Report you. Ridiculous
Sounds like an April Fools posting to me. What about the signing supervisory appraiser that reviewed the trainee’s work before delivery??
I think you may be right? Funny if it is, they got me.
You use AI, I know it will be the way things are in the future and maybe very helpful but as everyone has said, READ it before you sumit it!. But what is very bothersome about this story is the Appraiser posting on social media AND saying they will just try to lie their way out of it! UNREAL….The future of our profession is looking very dim….Dim witted! Sorry, but this is just so disappointing!
Back to CPTChat – Not sure I would call it lying – a little research disclosure in a very general sense is all that is needed. Do you know any famous person who independently wrote their own book; and don’t bother to say they totally give credit. The long and short of it is maybe, just maybe – ChatCPT can and will access valuable information or interpretation you/we have not thought of. When you use it – YOU OWN IT! LOL
Oh. It’s lying. It’s cheating. It’s plagiarism. These softwares primary accomplishment is reforming language based on modeling. The machine does not have one iota of original thought or intellectual prowess. Only the illusion of such. Adopt a very important new life rule with haste; ‘I do not talk to robots.’ Not on a phone menu. Not online. Not anywhere. I do not talk to robots.
Because I’m a human being. I’m not an animal, I’m a human being! I am a man. Argggg. Go to Reddits AI threads if you want to see the truly nightmarish dystopian future forming in real time. More disturbing than thinking about clowns in basements; AI threads, the responses in conversations with humans, the ‘artwork’ it creates. Frightening.
As if typing about the very thing you are paid to perform and have voluntarily chosen as your own career is too challenging. I type well over 100 wpm almost error free and can fill entire pages with free writing commentary in minutes. Reading and reviewing the AI generated or outsourced typing content would take longer than simply doing the job yourself. If you are a qualified appraiser, you should be able to talk, and type, the language of real estate. If you can talk it, you can type it. Additionally this assists in memory retention of workfile material. I can defend most reports without even needing the workfile.
Get better at typing with various typing games. I like ‘Typer Shark’. It’s the never ending stream of piranas and special characters which gets me, but I can usually get through to the high really challenging levels . Your training will be complete when you can smoke keyboards, pop the keys, make edit corrections, and deliver all special characters without looking, dictate in real time. Stop pretending to get real work done on mobile devices, that’s impossible.
Do not trust AI systems, outsourcing the responsibilities of your own mind, disregarding the value of a human soul. Terminator vibes. My new hobby is hating on all these groups whom are cheer leading the new golden idol; AI systems. I write a lot of letters to this regard, just wrote one today to this group coding their new AI system which is programmed with ‘compassion and care’, they gave it a feminine name. Play with fire much? These AI systems have ruined everything, substantial volumes of children and adults are now cheating with AI, dialing it in full time. ‘Artificial non intelligence’.
Where do I find this 2024-25 version of USPAP? Are we updating yearly now?
Not sure what rock you have been living under, by this is the first edition of USPAP that does not have an end date. Yes you are required to take the USPAP course ever cycle of your license renewal even if there has not been a single change. Also, you sounds as if the USPAP document is free to source and download at will. It is not.
Then why the 2025? Where did that come from. The only version I am aware of is 2024.
Look it up if you don’t believe me.
I did. I still only see the 2024 version. Do you have a link to this 2024-2025 version?
You have to pay. The appraisal institute and the appraisal foundation have them for sale.
This is an interesting topic about AI. Yes, the young appraiser should have taken the time to make his own comments. There is nothing wrong with using spell check as an aid.
I did some research this week using AI Assisted Google. I ask a simple question. Will AI replace Real Property Appraisers? The link is what I got for an answer.
https://www.hypewired.com/real-estate-ai-appraisals/
In short, you got propaganda.
The ‘not all of which is unbiased’ comes from the FHFA and HUD’s Auto De Fe inquiry into prohibited language in appraisal reports. They analyzed over 23 million appraisals and came up with a relatively short list of perhaps a dozen instances. They came up with a lot of statistics, except for the one which matters most; The actual percentage ratio of ‘faulty’ appraisals. Something a dozen in 23 million, if anyone cares to come up with the actual percentage. Then we can tally that against the wasted government man hours to determine how many hundreds of thousands or more dollars were wasted on each unique identification of the alleged appraisal bias.
This website represents the very definition of fake news. Corporate insiders whom are writing what they’re told to write, for the benefit of the corporations and institutions they’re told to promote. Fake News. Great link to post, chalked full of faulty data, biased suppositions, and unreliable conclusions. More taxes for everyone! Yeay, AI saved the day again.
Edited by posters request.
Any appraiser can find this helpful when they write the narrative portions of a report. It is legitimate and that young appraiser would not have got his azz in trouble.
https://www.grammarly.com/
There is also the free to use, non AI spell checker which works with your browser in Mozilla, and actively in real time highlights all mis spellings in red as you type, no matter where you are at on the internet. One may argue the use of AI tools for appraisal and market valuation purposes constitutes a violation of the Gramm Leach Bliley act. ‘Where does it all go?’
Beggins: based on what I’ve seen of your dig deep well footnoted diatribes, I’m still looking for an original thought 4 paragraphs in. Loosen up a little in the research department. As I said, you use it – YOU OWN IT. Frankly I don’t care where it comes from as long as I take responsibility for it (and yes maybe footnoted) machine or otherwise. LOL
Baggins. An LOTR reference. The remarkable middle earth humanoid whom happened to be quite resilient to the forces of the dark lord. Did you use chat ai to post that comment?
Diatrabes; diatribe noun
di·?a·?tribe ?d?-?-?tr?b
Synonyms of diatribe
1 : a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing
2 : ironic or satirical criticism
3 archaic : a prolonged discourse
Close. No cigar. Better luck next time.
No sense in berating the trainee who thought they were doing the right thing. The word is “trainee” which means he or she is relying on the “trainer” to provide good instruction and guidance. Did the “trainer” even bother to read the report? One would think if they had they would have found the error. Yes, it is just common sense you read and understand what you are submitting however most of the blame needs to go to the trainer who it appears, if accurate, never bothered to read the report and is pushing for volume, throwing care to the wind. This is a life lesson this trainee will never forget. I do not advise he or she lie as that will only compound the problem if proved otherwise and would show purposely deceiving the client. I believe the trainee should tell the truth and that an amended report be submitted to correct the issue at hand. If, and only if, it doesn’t materially affect value/marketability and explained as an error on the “trainee” part I can’t see anyone threatening simply for the purpose of being vindictive. Yes, he made a mistake however to err is human and without proper supervision it is more likely than not these things will happen. Why isn’t the “trainer” stepping up to the plate? That part is not making a lot of sense since the certified appraiser is also on the hook. I see the trainer having more difficulties for poor training combined with overwhelming the trainee to push reports out the door. In any case this should be handled by the “trainer” who owns the report.
Good advice GKNBM. This is a trainee who sounds as if they are being hung out to swing alone—IF it is true. Something is strange about this whole “set-up”???? Trust nobody and depend solely on your gut instincts to survive. I truly hope this is just an April Fools prank and not a sign of the human condition at this period in time.
Oh the memories. The person is a real appraiser now, license not withstanding. Pinned to the wall, lost the client.
Deflection Baggins – The topic was “original” thought which after the last nine paragraph diatribe is all attributed to other parties. Come on you can do better than that. If I were your teacher and I would not be so bold as to suggest i could teach you anything, I would limit you to 50 words of original profundady which we might all benefit from. Hang in there old guy! Homer was not the last person to have an original thought!
You forgot to capitalize the i. Earlier on, I put a space in front of the period. Speed typing and all.
If you are looking for character or posting limitations, perhaps try out Twitter.
Fifteen words left… Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink.
Can you hear me now?
ZZZZZZZZZ – man down!
The primary motivation; To Provide appraisal services for this industries traditional methods of market valuation. Appraisers are regular working people like anyone else whom seeks to perform their job in the best possible manner. AI is not the solution to hostile working climates imposed by parties with conflicts of interest.
In House or Remote Property Inspectors Needed at RemoteWorker US
About the job
Property Inspectors Needed
No experience needed
Will train
This becomes a career with no down sizing and no lay off’s
Work your own hours
Management positions available based on performance not on who likes you
Earn while in training
No physical labor just educating client
“This is a job posting” This is what Fannie wants and has obtained as the future of valuation”
They are who we though they were.