Industry leaders in auctioneering and valuation are coming together to confront a question that would have seemed speculative only a few years ago, this being what is the future role of the professional valuer in an era of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence?
It’s more than a discussion about the use of ChatGTP and other generative AI tools in the creation of valuation report. It’s a conversation that recognises that AI is increasingly capable of sophisticated data analysis, pattern recognition, and comparative assessment, capabilities that intersect directly with core valuation tasks.
One of the most significant developments is AI’s ability to aggregate and analyse vast quantities of historical sales data. Where data access permits, AI systems can ingest thousands of past sales records, auction results, and valuation reports in seconds, identifying trends, outliers, and market movements that would take human analysts weeks or months to compile. This capacity transforms market evidence from a static reference point into a dynamic, continuously updated intelligence source.
Building on this, AI tools can now assess individual assets against prior sales of comparable items in similar, superior, or inferior condition. Rather than relying on a limited sample set, AI can benchmark an asset against a broad spectrum of comparable evidence, adjusting for condition, provenance, age, and other variables. This does not replace judgement, but it does materially enhance the evidentiary foundation upon which judgement is exercised.
Perhaps most striking is the emergence of AI-assisted tools for assessing art and cultural property. Although still in a nascent stage, AI systems are being developed to analyse drawing techniques, brushstroke patterns, pigment composition, and stylistic markers to compare artworks. These tools can support authenticity assessments by identifying consistencies and or anomalies across an artist’s known body of work. While not a substitute for connoisseurship, scientific testing, or provenance research, this technology is evolving rapidly and is already reshaping how experts approach attribution and forgery detection.
Importantly, industry leaders emphasise that these developments do not signal the end of valuers. Instead, they reinforce the valuer’s role as an interpreter, risk assessor, and professional accountable for conclusions. AI can process evidence at scale, but it cannot understand purpose, context, legal frameworks, or the real-world consequences of a valuation opinion. Nor can it replace professional ethics, independence, or responsibility to clients, courts, and regulators.
These issues will be explored in depth at the AVC26 Conference in the session If Artificial Intelligence Can Value Assets, Do We Need Valuers?. Rather than framing AI as a threat, the discussion will focus on how valuers can harness emerging tools to improve accuracy, efficiency, and defensibility, while reaffirming the human expertise that remains central to trusted valuation practice. Be sure to book your AVC26 Conference tickets today.
As AI capability accelerates, the future clearly belongs to valuers who understand these tools, question their outputs, and integrate them responsibly into professional judgement, ensuring that technology strengthens, rather than diminishes, the credibility of the profession. That’s what makes the conversation at the AVC26 Conference so important to the sector.
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Interested In Finding Out More?
If you’re interested in the AVC26 Conference, send an email to avc26.conference@avaa.com.au or telephone 1300 928 165. You can also stay up to date by following AVAA on LinkedIn, X/Twitter and Facebook.
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