AI and the Art of Valuation: Why technology can support but not replace professional judgement

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how we work across the property industry from data collection to predictive analytics.

But while technology can improve efficiency and accuracy, according to Emma Brooks, Associate in our valuation team, it can never replace the professional judgement and local insight that lie at the heart of valuation.

Balancing innovation with integrity

Valuation has always been both an art and a science. AI can support the science, but the art remains uniquely human.

That’s the message behind the new RICS Professional Standard for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Surveying Practice, published in September 2025 and effective from 9 March 2026.

This global standard outlines how RICS members and regulated firms can use AI responsibly, ensuring technology enhances rather than undermines professional integrity.

A new standard for responsible AI

The RICS standard represents a crucial step forward for the profession, setting out both mandatory requirements and best-practice expectations.

Its four pillars ensure AI is used transparently, ethically and under the continued oversight of qualified professionals:

• Governance and Risk Management – Firms must have clear AI policies, risk registers and due diligence processes.
• Professional Judgement and Oversight – Surveyors must assess AI outputs and remain fully accountable for their work.
• Transparency and Client Communication – Clients must be informed when and how AI is used, with options to opt out.
• Ethical Development – Firms developing AI systems must ensure data quality, sustainability and legal compliance

The standard’s purpose is simple: To balance innovation with public trust, maintaining the profession’s reputation for rigour and ethics.

How AI supports valuation today

At Vail Williams, we already harness AI-driven tools to streamline the valuation process. One such tool is Valos, a software platform that uses AI to collect statutory and environmental data for valuation reports.

Where valuers once gathered information manually, from local authorities, EPC registers, the Environment Agency and more, this is becoming an increasingly automated process. By inputting an address and drawing a boundary into software, data on rateable value, EPCs, flood risk, and planning history can now be retrieved in seconds.

Yet, this automation doesn’t replace the valuer, it frees them. The time saved can be spent on analysis, interpretation, and delivering meaningful advice tailored to client objectives. The result? More efficient, insight-driven reporting, and better outcomes for clients.

Three are also several other tools at a valuer’s disposal which can play a vital role in aggregating market data and comparable evidence, which form the foundation for any valuation. Yet, it remains the case that it is the valuer’s own expertise and insight which  transforms data into understanding.

The irreplaceable skill of the Valuer

AI can calculate, but it cannot comprehend.

A professional property valuation involves far more than generating a number. It requires understanding purpose, context, and consequence.

Professional valuers bring this to every instruction:

• Judgement – Applying technical knowledge, experience, and professional scepticism.
• Understanding – Addressing complex issues such as overage, diminution in value, or retrospective valuations.
• Communication – Providing strategic, reasoned advice that aligns with a client’s goals.
• Local Market Knowledge – Recognising market sentiment and subtleties that data alone can’t reveal.
• Physical Inspection – Assessing condition, layout, and features that define real world value.
• Ethical Accountability – Ensuring every report meets RICS Red Book standards and professional obligations.

These qualities turn information into informed advice, something no algorithm can replicate.

Embracing AI responsibly

RICS’ new standard is a welcome framework for firms navigating the evolving relationship between AI and professional practice. It acknowledges that while AI brings opportunity, it also demands responsibility.

At Vail Williams, we see AI as an enabler, helping us reduce administrative burdens, improve consistency, and spend more time providing strategic, insight led advice. But we also recognise that trust in valuation comes from the people behind it: qualified professionals applying their expertise, ethics, and local understanding to every instruction.

As AI continues to evolve, one thing remains constant: Valuation is not just about numbers. It’s about the story they tell, and that story can only be told by a valuer.

Emma Brooks is a Valuation Associate at Vail Williams LLP, providing expert valuation advice to a wide range of clients across the Midlands and North. She specialises in delivering Red Book-compliant valuations that balance analytical precision with real world insight.