If you're a board member, you've probably noticed "AI" popping up everywhere lately. It’s in your manager's updates, your vendor pitches, your industry publications...it’s all over. You might be wondering: Does this mean our association manager is about to be replaced by a chatbot?
The short answer is no. But AI should absolutely change how your association manager works, and that's a good thing for your community.
What AI Actually Does in Community Management
AI in community association management isn't about replacing people. It's about giving your manager better tools to serve your community more effectively.
Technology has been transforming association management for decades. Email revolutionized communication in the 1990s. Property management software eliminated manual spreadsheets in the 2000s, freeing managers from administrative work. AI is simply the next step in this evolution.
The best AI tools handle time-consuming tasks so your manager can spend more of their energy on what actually requires human judgment and relationship skills.
Benefits You Might Experience
When your manager adopts effective AI tools for community association management, here are some benefits your community might experience:
Faster Response Times: Instead of spending 20 minutes digging through files to answer, "What's the status of that violation case," you could potentially get an answer in seconds, keeping board meetings on track.
More Proactive Insights: Well-implemented AI can spot patterns your manager might miss manually, like vendors consistently running late or maintenance requests clustering in specific buildings. Your manager can then address these insights before they become bigger problems.
Better Use of Time: If your manager spends hours each week compiling reports or chasing down information, AI can help shift that balance toward strategic planning, vendor negotiations, and building relationships with homeowners.
Improved Self-Service: AI can empower both boards and homeowners to get answers to simple questions, like meeting dates or architectural request statuses, without always going through the manager, reducing the burden on everyone.
What Absolutely Shouldn't Change
Your manager understands your community's unique culture and priorities, and that understanding can't be automated. Neither can their ability to build trust with homeowners over time.
Community association management is fundamentally about building community, and that requires human judgment, empathy, and relationship skills that no AI can replicate.
What Good AI Implementation Looks Like
If your manager is adopting AI tools, have a conversation about how this will impact your community.
Consider asking questions like:
- "How will this AI tool change how you work with our community?"
- "What tasks will AI handle, and what will still require your personal attention?"
- "Is this AI specific to community association management, or is it a generic tool?"
Warning Signs to Watch For
On the flip side, be cautious if you see automated systems that remove the personal touch from sensitive issues, or if AI is being presented primarily as a cost-cutting measure to reduce your manager's availability to the board. Generic AI tools not tailored to community association management, or a lack of transparency about what data the AI uses and how, are also causes for concern.
The key question is simple: Is this AI making your manager more capable of serving your community, or is it creating distance between your manager and the people they serve?
The Future Is Human + AI
Communities will benefit most from AI use when it amplifies human expertise, not replaces it.
Your association manager should be more informed and more proactive because of AI. They should have more time for work that requires their experience. And your community should feel more served, not more automated.
If your manager is adopting AI tools, that's often a sign they're investing in better service. But it's worth having a conversation about how those tools will improve your community's experience.
