Colorado-Real-Estate-Journal_494025

INSIDE Data alone can mislead: Maps show boundaries, but movement shows truth Retail investors Gain an edge in today’s hyper-competitive market while generating an attractive ROI Solar power PAGE 14 November 2025 PAGE 8 Success depends on creating spaces that are adaptable, efficient and durable Construction trends PAGE 13 B y its very nature, science fiction as a creative force shares imaginative and compelling views of the future, many of which have been developed successfully to yield world-changing results. For exam- ple, Martin Cooper, the Motorola research engineer who led his team to invent the first mobile phone, said he was inspired by the com- municators used in the late 1960s television show “Star Trek.” One sci-fi depiction about how digital intelligence might impact retail interactions can be found in the 2002 thriller “Minority Report,” starring Tom Cruise. In the film, Cruise’s character, John Anderton, walks through a shopping mall where retina scan- ners identify him, enabling person- alized advertise- ments that call out to him by name. After a nearby bar suggests that Anderton should relax with a Guin- ness beer, he enters a Gap store where a holographic greeter says to a nearby customer, “Hello Mr. Yama- moto, welcome back to the Gap. How are those assorted tank tops working out for you?” Retina scanners? Probably never in retail, but a different kind of “Rise of the Machines” is expanding immediately: artificial intelligence, its subset of machine learning, and robotic assistants. These tools have become revenue boosters by per- sonalizing the shopping experience and creating a more engaged busi- ness-to-consumer interaction, and providing security measures, among other customer-facing purposes. Behind the scenes, these tech- nologies are being used increasingly to streamline business processes, boost retail and employee produc- tivity, and detect shrink and fraud. AI can also analyze and redirect global supply chains and forecast- ing. For example, if the political environment or cost structures of retail production or delivery from a particular region or country chang- es or the weather takes an unex- pected turn, AI can help identify alternative solutions. It's challenging to take a par- ticular viewpoint on whether AI in retail is good or bad. We want to see our tenants thrive. Notably, AI can create advantages and challenges for all industry participants. What Artificial intelligence: Retail’s rise of the machines Jimmy Balafas Co-founder and managing partner, Kentro Group Please see Kentro, Page 16