SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Airbnb will be utilizing artificial intelligence in its efforts to clamp down on people holding disruptive New Year’s Eve parties in rental properties, the company announced Monday.
Airbnb incorporated anti-party measures last year that resulted in thousands of people globally being blocked from booking an entire home listing on the platform, including 450 guests in San Francisco.
The company said that since first implementing party prevention measures for New Year’s Eve in 2020, Airbnb has seen a “meaningful decrease in the rate of party reports” over the holiday in the U.S.
This year, Airbnb says it will be deploying proprietary and machine learning technology across several countries and regions globally to prevent parties.
“The aim of this system is to try to identify one, two and three night booking attempts for entire home listings over the holiday weekend that could be potentially higher-risk for a disruptive and unauthorized party incident and block those bookings from being made,” Airbnb said in a news release.
The technology, Airbnb said, looks at hundreds of signals “that could indicate a booking is higher risk for this type of incident.” Factors include duration of the trip, how far the listing is from their location, the type of listing being booked and if the reservation is being made at the last minute.
“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,” said Airbnb head of Trust and Safety Naba Banerjee. “We’re optimistic these measures will help have a positive impact for the communities we serve.”
Airbnb’s AI technology will block certain one-to three-night entire home bookings identified as high-risk and require guests to attest to understanding the platform’s policy on parties.
In addition to the U.S., the technology will be deployed in Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand, Airbnb said.