Hobart Council Using AI to Catch Unregistered Short-Stay Accommodation Providers

An Airbnb spokesman told The Epoch Times the company supports governance measures around the program.

A woman browses the Airbnb website on a tablet in Berlin on April 28, 2016. John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

The city of Hobart has officially started to trial new artificial intelligence (AI) software capable of poring over the internet in search of unregistered short-term rentals.

Since 2023, short-term rentals in the Hobart region have attracted twice the council rates of all other properties in a move to deter homes from being taken out of the private rental market.