MLS leaders say AI requires a new approach to governing real estate data

As artificial intelligence changes how real estate data is accessed, analyzed and deployed, two of the nation’s largest MLS leaders say the industry needs to rethink the infrastructure governing that data — and give brokerages far more visibility into how their information is being used. During a discussion at HousingWire’s AI Summit, NorthStar MLS CEO Tim Dain and California Regional MLS CEO Art Carter outlined work underway to create a more granular data-governance model designed for an AI-driven industry. Governance does not mean total control For Dain, the distinction between governance and control is important. “I don’t like the word control because I think if any of you work with MLS data, which I’m assuming most of you do at some level, I think a lot of people look at us with a little bit of hatred because we probably force too much control and too many rules onto the industry,” Dain said. Instead, he said the industry needs infrastructure that can identify who is using data, for what purpose, where it is being displayed and under what terms. “It’s not really about the MLS controlling it as much as it’s about building an orchestration layer based on the proper entitlements, ...