This is different. I work at Airbnb - we've been working on what was announced today for quite some time, and it has been our intent to fully own and provide an Airbnb-branding-appropriate offering.
The fact that this kind of idea never went away even when everyone else found that AirBnB fullfilled a different requirement doesn't surprise me.
It couldn't get further from living like a local; it's just an AirBnHostel.
It's relatively simple to discern which type of AirBnB you're getting from the host's description, and from the cities I've rented in (granted, mostly popular/populous destinations), there's plenty of choice between the types.
Edit: I just played around with it a bit more and maybe I was a bit harsh. I'm definitely not the target market for this and will never use though I can imagine there is a sizeable number of people who would enjoy this. That said it should definitely be a new app. It doesn't make sense to put it in the main app.
Another way of thinking about this is to understand that Airbnb doesn't think of itself as an accommodations company, and hasn't for years. It thinks of itself as a travel company, and this has significant implications for its overall strategy.