What’s the most dangerous AI in real estate? It’s not the one making up responses (hallucinating) or giving you listing descriptions with words that violate fair housing laws. It’s not even the one fueling valuation models with biased data. It’s the one that costs nothing. 

That’s because in the world of free products, if you’re not paying, you are the product. Your clients' data, conversations, even your prompts – anything and everything you feed these free AI tools can be absorbed, reused, and, in the worst-case scenarios, leaked or sold. And in real estate, the risk is greater because the stakes are so high. 

Hazardous to your business 

The danger of real estate agents using "free AI" tools was one of the vital takeaways during an AI panel that I participated in last week at the 59th Annual National Association of Real Estate Editors’ 2025 conference in New Orleans. 

Moderated by award-winning freelance journalist Michele Lerner, the panel also included Nathan Brannen, the Chief Product Officer at Barcelona-based Restb.ai, and Julia Kanter, Zillow’s top AI experience executive. 

Sharing a quote from Warren Buffet, Julia nailed the risk: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” 

Free is never free 

As I said during the session, the phrase that scares me the most is “free AI.” The risk comes from real estate agents not realizing that you cannot upload confidential (PII) or proprietary data into a free AI tool without exposing yourself and your brokerage to unnecessary risk. Plus, free AI tools make more mistakes. 

But perhaps most importantly, free AI tools today are developed by third parties, often overseas, outside US jurisdiction, and without clear data policies. There's usually no transparency about how your data is used, stored, or shared. 

If you’re entering any personal information on your or a client's information, you could unknowingly hand over sensitive data to an unregulated entity with zero accountability. 

Nathan at Restb.ai made the point plainly: “The easiest way to prevent data from being used improperly is to not pass it to the model that you're using.” That means choosing platforms that actively filter or remove sensitive information before anything gets analyzed, as Restb.ai does when powering AI-created listing descriptions in most MLSs in the US. Most free tools? They don’t. 

Pay to protect 

One of the biggest myths I hear from some AI speakers talking to real estate agents is that free AI tools are “good enough.” They’re not. When you are new to AI or testing out a new product with a free trial version – that's fine, as long as you practice safe AI. 

But the minute you want to use AI for business, pay to protect yourself. Spend the $50 a month for two users and sign up for a ChatGPT Team account. 

Why ChatGPT Team over ChatGPT Plus? Because ChatGPT Team does not train on your prompts or your data. 

ChatGPT Team offers enterprise-level protections for individuals and small teams, with bank-level data encrypted, and isolated workspaces. Let’s emphasize that again: the single most crucial promise for ChatGPT Team: OpenAI does not use your prompts or content to train its models. For real estate agents, it is worth paying a little more for a massive leap in AI safety. 

Plus, when you switch from the free version to ChatGPT Team, the performance, speed, and features are like going from riding a bike to a motorcycle. 

The smartest AI is human-led 

AI won’t replace real estate agents. But as I’ve written about since 2023, an agent not using AI will be replaced by one who does. The difference is learning how to use AI the right way. 

Free AI tools are seductive. They’re fast, easy, and everywhere. But they come with invisible costs, from privacy risks to poor output. As Zillow’s Julia Kanter noted, in this moment, where trust is more valuable than ever, the best move is to pair powerful AI with HITL: human-in-the-loop. 

When using AI, think of it like you would an intern. As Nathan from Restb.ai echoed, “Just like an intern, it’s going to do things that really frustrate you…and other things you’ll be like, ‘Man, you just saved me two weeks of work!’” 

The best AI results come from human judgment, specific prompts, and secure platforms. 

That’s the only kind of AI that deserves a place in your business. (-Kevin)