Tony Pistilli, veteran appraiser and the general manager of valuations for Restb.ai, recently penned an article about advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), finding its way into the game of baseball. We sat down with Pistilli who shared his thoughts on this and to find out if AI will help as far as making sure more accurate calls are made on the field.

At its core, baseball is a business just like any other. Pistilli offered some insights as to whether he feels technological innovations are continually changing businesses.

“I think we are at an inflection point in innovations.  We will see such rapid change in the next few years as a result of artificial intelligence and it will all be OK,” he told Valuation Review. “We have seen rapid change before, all the way back to the industrial revolution, and this will be no different.  I think we will look back in 10 years and wonder how we ever survived without all the new technology. Gmail was released by Google in 2001, just over 20 years ago – how many of us would want to work or communicate today without email?”

As to how traditionally human-dominated fields, like sports officiating, are beginning to feel the pressure of technology and automation, Pistilli noted instant replay has become commonplace in sports games. 

Tennis matches, he added, utilize some form of technology for line judges and now with baseball umpires, the advent of technology is calling in to question the accuracy of their calls.  It won’t be long until sports officials are supercharged with the augmentation of technology, he said.

On the subject of whether Pistilli sees a shift in attitude among appraisers as far as accepting new technology, like AI, he offered these words.

“I think, and I truly hope, that appraisers are becoming more open to utilizing technology.  Think back when appraisers used typewriters and computer technology made us all more efficient,” Pistilli told us. “AI will allow appraisers, who are open to learning about it and using it, to become more efficient and accurate in their appraisals.”

Pistilli also pointed out AI and other advanced technologies that could replace human roles in professional settings can be both an opportunity and a challenge.

He referenced the saying, “It’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks,” and said that it is often very true when it comes to technology.  “For some who don’t embrace new technology, it will be a challenge, and for those who do embrace change, it will be a lifeline to further their professional careers,” he suggests.

“Imagine back in the 1980s when mechanics worked on cars that were mostly mechanical and compare that to mechanics that work on cars today that are highly technical and computerized,” he said. “If the old mechanics didn’t learn the new technologies in cars, they were no longer working.” 

We then continued our discussion of replacing Major League Baseball umpires with technology, and what advantages/disadvantages he sees surfacing if such a method should happen.

Also, is having the human element present still a preferred requirement in appraising, or does Pistilli see advanced technology challenging that “human touch?”

“Part of the experience in playing sports and watching the games involve the officiating.  It perhaps shouldn’t, but it does, and it impacts the outcomes and conversations surrounding the games.  The human element in sports makes the game more enjoyable in my mind,” he said. “If football teams always made the right call at the right time in the game using AI, the excitement and unpredictability of the game would be changed.  It might be so predictable that it becomes boring and dull.

“I believe appraising is a balance of science and art.  I mean all the data in the world can’t account for dark purple interior walls or truly discern the amount of impact a busy street or an airport flight path has on a property.” Pistilli added. “The human appraiser is needed to provide that analysis – but the analysis and ultimately the adjustment, needs to be backed up by data.” 

Pistilli also elaborated on technology lacking the intuitive grasp of context, such as how replacing the “emotional flow” of a game (or transaction) and the unique circumstances surrounding an assignment can have negative outcomes.

He told us that in baseball games, umpires moderate the emotional flow of the game and that a pitch that is a bit high and inside could be overlooked or conversely, if it directly follows a home run with a cocky bat flip, well then, maybe the human discernment is needed to understand why that last pitch was a bit high and inside and the result of those two scenarios would be completely different.

He then outlined some of the compelling arguments in favor of technology replacing human umpires.

“Of course, balls and strikes are an easy one.  In appraisal terms, maybe that’s not the umpire’s highest and best use?  It could also be used as it is today in reviewing the plays to determine the proper call,” Pistilli said. “But using technology on every part of the game to replace umpires could result in much longer baseball games? And wouldn’t there still need to be umpires to ingest and interpret the output of the technology?”

Another interesting point we had during our talk focused on how implementing machines to make decisions over humans might tackle the topic of bias.

Pistilli said that it is well-known that machines can have bias programmed into them, but absent that, machines have the ability to be more consistent in the decision-making process and may not be influenced by human preferences and potential biases

We then shared points of view relating to the debate of human versus technological performance in baseball umpires having an ironic parallel to real estate appraising.

“We are seeing that technology can do some things better than humans. Technology can identify balls and strikes more accurately and more consistently than human umpires, just like technology can perform large math calculations and ingest large data sets much more quickly and efficiently than human appraisers,” Pistilli said. “In both cases, technology is just starting to encroach on what was once entirely a human driven process. However, it is neither technology alone or a human alone that produces the best results in a complex process, but humans leveraging technology who benefit from the best of both worlds.

But looking at it from an appraisal angle, Pistilli offered his opinion as to technology making appraisers more efficient over the years.

“Appraisers used to use a lot of equipment to create their appraisals, many of these tools have been replaced by technology and are no longer available – things like carbon paper, typewriters, dot matrix printers, 35MM cameras to name just a few,” Pistilli said. “All of these things have made appraisers much more efficient.  Appraisers can now do the same amount of work in less time and for less cost.”

Still, there is increased pressure appraisers face from technology. And Pistilli acknowledges that there is no question that appraisers must adapt to and adopt new technologies, or they will be replaced by appraisers who do.

He further suggested it might be frightening to some to learn new technologies, but any appraiser that does not will be replaced by those that do.

The veteran appraiser and Restb.ai executive also referenced that the use of technology to replace professionals like umpires or appraisers is a double-edged and controversial sword.

“When technology is introduced to baseball officiating or appraisals, it has the potential to create unintended consequences,” Pistilli said. “In appraising, if an appraiser isn’t familiar with regression analysis, AVMs, or artificial intelligence and doesn’t fully understand their uses and potential limitations, they run the risk of allowing bad data and incorrect analysis to enter their reports. Appraisers must know enough about the new technologies to effectively use them.”

Finally, Pistilli offered more confirmation that despite what selected industry officials continue to say, technology will not replace the human appraiser. 

“I’m not aware of any technology that completely runs by itself.  In the short-term appraisers that use new and emerging technologies will gain market share and remain relevant,” he said. “Who knows what the future holds, but we know things are changing due to technology and I believe appraisers should embrace this change, rather than resist it.”