The Digital Divide Is Real — and It's Growing
Michael opened with a deceptively simple point: AI is going to follow the same adoption curve as the internet, only much faster and with a much bigger impact.
He described what he calls the digital divide — the gap between agents who are actively learning AI now and those who are waiting until it feels more comfortable. His warning was direct: right now, that gap is still small enough to close. In six months, it will be harder. In two years, for some people, it will be impossible.
The agents sitting on the fence are not playing it safe. They are falling behind.
This is not about becoming a technology expert. It is about making a decision to stay in the game.
Think of AI as a Cheat Code, Not a Robot
One of the most useful reframes Michael offered was this: stop thinking of AI as something that replaces you, and start thinking of it as a cheat code for your business.
He referenced the old Konami cheat code from the game Contra — a sequence that turned an almost impossibly difficult game into something manageable. AI does the same thing for your business. It does not change what you are trying to accomplish. It just removes the friction, the time, and the frustration that used to stand between you and the result.
The Stanford and MIT research he cited puts numbers to this: professionals using AI effectively reduce time on task by up to 80% and improve the quality of their output by 40%. What takes a competitor five hours takes you one — and your one hour is better than their five.
That is not a small edge. That is a decisive advantage.
Stop Using AI Like a Vending Machine
This was perhaps the most important mindset shift of the entire session. Michael laid out three levels of AI use:
The first level is treating AI like an expert — you show up, ask a question, get an answer, and leave. Most people are here. It is useful, but it barely scratches the surface.
The second level is treating AI like a teammate — you build ongoing workspaces, give it context about your business, your voice, your clients, and your goals, and you return to it repeatedly to build on what you have already created. This is where the real productivity gains live, and it is where Michael operates every day.
The third level is digital employees — AI that acts autonomously on your behalf. This is still emerging, but it is coming.
The jump from level one to level two is not technical. It is a mindset shift. You are not just asking questions. You are building a working relationship with a tool that gets more useful the more context you give it.
A Perfect Prompt Is a Skill Worth Learning
Michael broke down the six elements that separate a prompt that produces mediocre output from one that produces something you would actually use:
Task — What do you want it to do? Write, brainstorm, analyze, create?
Context — What are you trying to achieve? Give it the situation, not just the request.
Model — What does good look like? Describe the standard you expect. As brokers, you know the difference between a strong listing presentation and a weak one. Tell the AI what strong looks like.
Persona — Who is doing the writing? A senior property consultant? A friendly neighborhood expert? The lens you assign changes everything about the output.
Format — What should the result look like? An email? A three-section market update? A social media caption? Be specific.
Tone and style — How should it sound? Warm and conversational? Authoritative and data-driven? This is what makes the output sound like you rather than a generic chatbot.
You do not need all six every time, but the more you include, the better the result. Practice building prompts the way you would practice a listing presentation — with intention and structure.
You Are the Expert. Let AI Do the Writing.
The live demonstration with Pam Mangubat was the most practical moment of the session, and the one most directly applicable to how we work here in Metro Manila.
Michael used ChatGPT's advanced voice mode to interview Pam about current market conditions in BGC and Makati — asking her about buyer behavior, developer discounts, infrastructure developments, and investment sentiment. Pam did not prepare notes. She just answered from her expertise.
Then, in a single prompt, Michael turned that seven-minute conversation into a full market update — complete with sections for buyers, sellers, and a market outlook — branded for Pam and Realty ONE Group.
The takeaway is not that AI wrote it. The takeaway is that Pam's knowledge, her years of experience in the Metro Manila luxury market, became the foundation. AI just gave it a structure and a voice that could be published immediately.
Every one of us has that knowledge. We know our submarkets, our developers, our buyers, our trends. Most of us just never find the time to write it down in a way that builds our reputation. Now we have a way to do exactly that — in minutes, not days.
Where to Start
If you walked away from the session feeling like there is a lot to absorb, that is normal. Michael's suggestion was simple: start with the AI starter kit.
Get a paid account on one of the three major platforms — ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Gemini. Explore Google's NotebookLM for organizing research and generating infographics. Try Perplexity for quick research while you are on calls or in the field.
Then use the brainstorming prompt Michael shared. Put it into your AI platform of choice, fill in the topic — a pop-by idea, a client nurturing campaign, a social media strategy — and see what comes back. Run it five times. Pick the best idea. Put it into action.
The agents who will look back on 2026 as a turning point in their careers are the ones who started experimenting this month, not the ones who waited until it felt comfortable.
The cheat code is available to all of us. The question is who picks it up first.
Realty ONE Group Philippines holds regular Primetime sessions to support the growth and development of our agents and broker-owners. Our next session features Coach Scott Bergmann on exclusive listings — mark your calendars for June 1st.
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