A man in Las Vegas received a bloody pig’s head and a letter by mail after speaking on TV about using artificial intelligence in real estate. Agrippa CEO Blake Owens shared in a June interview how AI would help in real estate deals. Agrippa is an AI-powered, broker-free platform for real estate.
The pig’s head arrived on July 29. Owens believes the sender might fear losing jobs to AI. The letter said AI wouldn’t replace brokers. The sender accused him of not understanding real estate.
“AI is not going to replace brokers. Clearly, you don’t understand real estate was built by developer or investors,” 8 News Now quoted the sender as saying in the letter.
Owens said he didn’t feel truly threatened but took the message seriously. According to him, AI is meant to support people, not replace them.
“I don’t want to punch down on this person; they may be in a tough spot in life. I do see this as an opportunity to show people you don’t become a better person by making another man a lesser person,” he said.
Owens believes in a quote by Winston Churchill that says change is necessary. Owens feels many are scared of how fast AI is growing. But, he believes those who learn and adapt will succeed.
“A lot of people are afraid of change and what’s coming with AI, because it really is a tsunami of change that people are trying to resist. But the more you embrace it, the better you’ll do, the more skills that you’ll accumulate more value you’ll bring to the table,” he said.
AI in real estate
MGM Resorts, Nevada’s biggest employer, has started using AI across many departments, including front desk work. In their latest report, they said 70 to 80 AI tools had been added.
Another hotel, Otonomous Hotel, opened on July 1 in Las Vegas. It uses AI services and recently hosted guests from El Salvador.
According to Blake Owens, companies like Agrippa, TensorWave and Otonomous are leading AI change in the city. He believes this shift may upset some people, but it’s needed.
“May ruffle some feathers in the process, but in the long run, I think that it’s the best thing to do,” he said.
The Las Vegas Police are now looking into the pig’s head case. The letter with it was signed only with the letter “M”.