AI and the appraisal business

AI has been a hot topic for some time now, with much of the discussion concerning the potential for widespread job losses. And, these fears are probably not without some merit. For the appraisal business, however, my sense is that AI will be mostly a boon.

The appraisal of a valuable item typically involves a blend of knowledge, intuition, and experience, which is something only a human can currently bring to the table. Has the item been repaired? Are there subtle nuances that indicate a piece is a later reproduction? Is the signature on a painting genuine? These are all important things that rely ultimately on the judgement of a knowledgable appraiser. Further, the court system and the Treasury Department currently require the opinion of a credentialed appraiser, not a software program, and I don't see that changing for many years. 

So, how then is AI helpful to the appraiser? For me, the most important way is item and artist identification. In particular, I use Google Lens both on-site and during the research phase for items/artists that are initially unfamiliar or when I want to confirm a first impression. Not only does Google Lens provide visual search results, the accompanying Gemini feature provides helpful historical information as well. And yes, I freely admit to employing some of the Gemini verbage from time to time when writing item descriptions. And no, I did not write this blog post using AI ;-)

So for now, the upshot seems to be that AI is largely helpful to an appraiser with minimal risk to employment. I look forward to seeing more tools relevant to my appraisal practice roll out and will post future updates on this as things develop.