Airbnb is hoping artificial intelligence can help prevent rental homes from getting trashed on New Year’s Eve.
The short-term rental company has launched a new AI-powered and machine-learning system to identify and block bookings that “could be potentially higher-risk for a disruptive and unauthorized party,” Airbnb said in a news release on Monday.
The system first looks at one, two and three-night booking attempts, and then crunches data from hundreds of “signals” to determine the risk of a New Year’s Eve ruckus.
Those factors include the duration of the visit, how far the listing is from the guest’s location, the type of listing, and if the reservation is being attempted at the last minute, among others.
Guests who successfully book their stays need to confirm that they understand that Airbnb doesn’t allow parties and that they could be banned from the platform if they get caught breaking the rule.
Airbnb says its anti-party measures seemed to work last year when more than 63,000 people were blocked from booking entire homes for NYE in the United States, including roughly 8,000 in California and 1,000 in Los Angeles.
“When it comes to how we use technology like AI, we’re focused on taking a thoughtful approach that aims to benefit Hosts, guests and neighborhoods. We’re optimistic these measures will help have a positive impact for the communities we serve,” said Naba Banerjee, head of trust and safety at Airbnb.
