One of the natural worries in commercial real estate — especially office — with the onset of ever more powerful artificial intelligence software is that there would be fewer workers and, so, even less need for a lot of leased space.

Jim Costello, executive director of MSCI Research, has a different take:

"Hype over the negative impact of AI on commercial real estate is on the rise. To hear some commentary, we should be welcoming our new robot overlords in the hopes that they will deign to give us menial jobs since all knowledge-driven activity will be replaced by machines. Forget about debates over the return to office — such a worst-case scenario caused by AI could be far more devastating to office demand. There are other, more hopeful views on the future, however, which could spell out even more demand for commercial real estate as AI gains a foothold in the economy."