AI Chatbots Handle Tenant Inquiries as Landlords Face Accountability Questions

This article was prepared from the source material provided, which cites reporting by The New York Times and includes statements from EliseAI CEO Minna Song, tenant Ray Weng, and Carnegie Mellon professor Alex John London.

Property managers across the United States are turning to AI chatbots to field inquiries and complaints from tenants and prospective renters, according to a New York Times report. EliseAI, a New York-based company, serves owners of roughly 2.5 million apartments nationwide, the newspaper reported. The bots are designed to be as humanlike as possible—so humanlike that CEO Minna Song told the Times that people sometimes visit leasing offices and ask for "Elise" by name.

For some renters, the shift has made apartment hunting more frustrating. Ray Weng, a software programmer, told the Times he was often forced to speak with an AI that gave vague and repeated answers. In-person visits offered little relief, with even tours being self-guided. "I'd rather deal with a person," Weng said. "It's a big commitment to sign a lease." He added that "if it's all automated, it feels like they don't care enough to have a real person talk to me."

The chatbots do offer round-the-clock availability, potentially reducing the chance of tenants being ignored when maintenance issues arise. But the Times cited an example in which a tenant complaining about leaky plumbing received a cheerful video about how to find the water shut-off valve instead of a direct response.

Accountability Questions Remain Unresolved

The use of AI in customer service raises thorny questions about what happens when a bot confidently provides wrong information or makes promises its human operators cannot keep. Earlier this year, Air Canada was ordered to pay damages to a man who bought a ticket after its AI misstated the airline's bereavement policy, telling him he would receive a refund.

It also remains unclear whether chatbots should be required to disclose that they are AI. EliseAI does not do so, as no laws currently force it to. Alex John London, a professor of ethics and computational technologies at Carnegie Mellon, told the Times that "all things considered, it is better to have your bot announce at the beginning that it is a computer assistant."