ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Vacation rental company Airbnb is employing artificial intelligence to help reduce the number of properties rented for the exclusive purpose of throwing a party.
The purpose of the technology is to help owners of vacation rentals managed by Airbnb to avoid the hassle of dealing with renters whose primary purpose is to have a disruptive party.
On Anna Maria Island, noise ordinances are in place in Anna Maria, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. Police in all three cities respond to multiple potential noise violations every week.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Bradenton Beach Police Lt. Lenard Diaz said.
Last week when The Sun spoke to Diaz, his department had three written reports regarding his officers responding to noise complaints. Those numbers climb significantly around holidays.
Damage to homes is also a concern for owners, many of whom live outside Florida and can’t respond immediately to problems with renters.
Airbnb’s AI and machine learning, which learns the patterns of renters who may be potential party risks, block some renters from procuring properties. One of the key components involves blocking one- and two-night rental reservations that are tagged as high-risk. In addition to the length of the trip, AI also looks at the distance from the destination and whether the booking is last minute. Airbnb has also instituted mandatory anti-party attestation that makes it clear that parties are banned and, if the rule is broken, suspension or removal from the platform could result.
“While disruptive parties are rare, we want to try to reduce the risk of them even more,” said Naba Banerjee, head of trust and safety at Airbnb. “Our AI anti-party system is an important tool in helping us to do that.”
The anti-party system was launched before Halloween last year in the U.S. and Canada and saw significant results. Airbnb says there was a decrease in reports of disruptive parties compared to previous years when the system was not in place. In Florida, 11,300 bookings were blocked during the initial launch in 2022. AI is unique and it learns more the longer it is in use, so the technology is expected to become exponentially more efficient. Numbers for Halloween 2023 are not yet available, but the company expects similar, if not better results than last year.
Airbnb says it has also implemented a dedicated portal for law enforcement, as well as a neighborhood portal where neighbors of rental properties can report concerns, at www.airbnb.com/neighbors.
Other steps the company is taking include a 24-hour safety line for hosts to contact Airbnb’s safety team, as well as a free noise sensor for hosts in the U.S. and Canada.