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Every so often a technology comes along that changes how everyone works. Aaron Ralph, our business partner and the AI expert on our team, thinks AI is exactly that: the new electricity. And for property developers, the ones who learn to use it now are quietly building an advantage over everyone who does not.
In episode 264 of the Property Mastermind Podcast, Hilary sits down with Aaron to unpack how developers can put AI to work, without needing to be a tech person at all. Here is a full rundown of what they cover.
AI is for everyone, not just tech people
The biggest myth about AI is that you have to be technical to use it. You do not. AI is one of the most accessible technologies there has ever been, because you talk to it in plain English, the same way you would brief a member of your team. Aaron’s tip for the week sums it up: do not be scared of AI. It is not coming to take your job, but learning to use it is what will keep you ahead. What actually trips people up is not the technology, it is that AI can do so many things they struggle to know where to start.
Where AI helps a property developer most
For a developer, the single biggest win is research. Development demands that you become an expert on an area fast, and that used to mean hours in RP Data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and a dozen other sources, pulling together comparable sales, supply, demographics and demand. AI shortcuts an enormous amount of that work. If you are weighing up a duplex in a new area, you can simply ask, “I am looking to develop a duplex in this area, what is a good starting point and what do I need to know?” and get a running start in minutes instead of days.
From there it helps across planning, feasibilities and just about every other part of the process, from making sense of a planning scheme to sanity-checking the numbers in a feasibility. As Aaron puts it, there is not one part of development where AI cannot help in some way.
It reasons, it does not just parrot the internet
A lot of people assume AI has simply memorised the internet and is regurgitating it back at you. It is not. Unlike old-style computer code, where a programmer had to spell out every single step, these systems are trained on huge amounts of information and actually learn to reason. That is the shift that matters, and it is why the tool is so much more capable than a search engine. It also means you can hand it a genuinely complex problem, not just a lookup.
How to actually get started with AI
The real barrier is knowing what to ask. Aaron’s advice is refreshingly simple: get clear on what you are trying to achieve, then work backwards from there. And build one small habit. When you catch yourself doing a task the way you always have, whether it is going through your emails, pulling together research, or drafting a note, stop for a second and ask, “can I get AI to do this for me?” Then open ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and just ask.
That is basic prompting: what you ask, and how you ask it. It takes a little while to fold it into your workflow, and most people go through a phase of only using it for trivial things like writing an email. But once the habit clicks, you start finding it can do far more than you expected, and it clears the small tasks that otherwise pile up into whole lost days.
The human things AI will not replace
For all of that, the important stuff is still yours. AI can shortcut the research and clear the busywork, but it cannot make the judgement calls, and it cannot supply the mindset. As Aaron says, AI can help you train for an ultra-marathon, but it is not going to run the hundred and five kilometres for you. The decisions, the drive and the belief are human, and they always will be.
Key takeaways from this episode
- AI is becoming the new electricity, a technology that touches every part of development.
- You do not need to be technical, you talk to AI in plain English.
- The biggest early win for a developer is research: shortcut RP Data, the ABS and market analysis.
- The real barrier is knowing what to ask, so learn a little basic prompting.
- Build the habit: when you catch yourself doing a task the old way, ask “can AI do this for me?”
- AI reasons, it does not just parrot the internet, so you can hand it real problems.
- The decisions and the mindset stay human, AI just clears the path.
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General education only, not financial, legal or tax advice.