Trends in Technology
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Third Time’s a Charm
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ince late 2022, few topics continue to capture more attention than artificial intelligence (AI). I first wrote about AI in this very column in the March 2023 edition, with a follow up in November 2024. Given the extraordinary pace of evolution, it’s about time for another update.
ALEC J. PACELLA
Over the past 18 months, several trends have emerged: more capable reasoning models, autonomous AI agents, multimodal systems, specialized industry models and growing adoption of private large language models (LLMs). Together, these developments are reshaping not just the commercial real estate industry but also how general businesses operate and how knowledge work is performed.
Give me another reason
One of the most significant advances in AI has been the shift from simple, prediction-based language models to ones capable of deeper reasoning. Leading AI providers have focused on improving models’ ability to solve complex problems, write software, analyze data and execute multi-step tasks with greater reliability. OpenAI, who started the AI party with GPT-3+, released GPT-5 in August 2025. This update introduced a unified architecture that can determine when a task requires deeper reasoning with
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slower response versus a simpler but faster response. It also includes major improvements in coding, writing, scientific analysis and instruction-following, while reducing hallucinations and factual errors. Concurrently, the broader AI industry has increasingly emphasized “reasoning-first” training techniques, including reinforcement learning approaches that reward verifiable outcomes rather than merely predicting likely text. Industry analysts view these methods as essential for improving performance in high-stakes domains such as law, finance, healthcare and engineering. Claude.ai has become a very popular product in these sectors.
Not so secret agents
Another major development is the rise of AI agents. Unlike traditional chatbots that simply answer questions, agents can perform tasks, use tools, access data sources and execute multi-step workflows autonomously, giving rise to a new term – agentic AI. Enterprise software vendors
Properties | August 2026