Newsweek Discovers AI, Ignores Human Greed in Housing Crisis
Newsweek's latest headline, 'AI Is Taking Over Housing Market: Report,' reads like a sci-fi dystopia, cleverly sidestepping the actual, very human dystopia we're living. Before the bots were 'taking over,' private equity firms like Blackstone and Invitation Homes were already snapping up hundreds of thousands of single-family homes, turning communities into rental portfolios. BlackRock, for
example, invested billions into Invitation Homes just after the 2008 financial crisis, capitalizing on foreclosures to buy homes en masse. The real 'AI' here isn't artificial intelligence, but rather the artificially inflated market created by decades of deregulation and relentless corporate consolidation, now simply using new tools to maximize profit. We’re told to fear the machines, but the
algorithms are merely tools for the same financial entities that have been weaponizing housing as a commodity, not a right, for decades. Blaming AI is like blaming the calculator for your national debt; it’s just processing numbers for the same old predatory calculations. Perhaps the 'report' Newsweek cites should have highlighted the congressional inaction on housing affordability or the
revolving door between Wall Street and Washington, where actual humans decide whether housing is for living or for leveraged buyouts.