Machine learning is part of our operations. But we need to build proper safeguards to deliver a great experience.
I really like this time of year. It’s when pundits from many walks of life opine on where our automotive business is headed.
Dealers are bombarded with off-the-wall ideas from seemingly credible well-funded ventures. In many ways it’s like a high school science fair for business masterminds.
This year, like years before it, started off with the Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) in early January closely followed by NADA.
In recent years, CES has resembled a futuristic car show with many OEMs introducing new concepts, along with many more entrepreneurial businesses explaining their seeming off the wall range of possibilities, some very practical and others not so much.
CES deals with the ultimate consumer experience, no matter how far-fetched. For example, a few years back I witnessed an incident where a humanoid robot was run over by an autonomous vehicle. In many ways CES brings science fiction to life with the goal of fixing what is broken with society and inventions of what could be possible.
Closely following CES comes NADA.
NADA is a convention put on by the U.S. automobile dealer association for automobile dealers. Exhibitors are suppliers of goods and services for use by automobile dealers. NADA is also the largest gathering of dealers in North America, and thus industry suppliers, so the networking is second to none.
It’s efficient and effective for dealers looking to secure just about anything for their dealership’s physical plant but also to maximize employee efficiency and improve bottom line profits.
It’s also a great spot to learn with its related educational program offerings practical for each department in the store and for getting the high-level overview of where dealerships in general are headed as expressed by industry leaders.
Underlying these two key conferences is the consumer. After all, all this stuff would be useless if it were not for the benefit of consumers. It’s consumers that fuel the automobile industry’s engine.
So, at the end of the day the industry and dealer participants at these conferences are looking to understand what could be both the short-term and longer-term profitable goods and services that retain and attract consumers.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage. But what is it and how can it benefit my dealership? Not to oversimplify, AI is a rapidly evolving technology that tries to simulate human intelligence using machines, enabling them to perform a wide range of tasks, from the very simple to extremely complex.
Generative AI is a form of AI that prioritizes the creation of original data instead of merely processing pre-existing data. Using large language models (LLM) it can generate wide ranging outputs. Examples are ChatGPT or Synthsia. If you haven’t already, give them a try.
All this stuff is very cool. However, as has been reported recently, the technology can be used in destructive ways. Since the databases used are very broad and the technology needed to create artificial communication is readily available, it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish fact from fiction.
We are all familiar with the concept of false content or fake news. Deep Fake as it is now known, leverages the power of AI to create very real looking communications which are anything but real.
The most highly-publicized incidents involve government leaders, entertainment giants and trusted news anchors with credible voices and images, used to convey fake content. We’ve all seen them and many of us have or know people have initially believed them to be real.
Seeing is not believing anymore. Today there is a growing distrust in what we are seeing, be it video or email, text message or voice spam. We are being bombarded as message originators try to catch us off guard and entice us to do something we did not intend to do.
At times the noise is unbearable. It’s so loud, it’s causing people to change their behaviour. I for one don’t answer my phone when I do not recognize the phone number. If it’s legitimate, usually the caller will leave a message. My morning routine starts with deleting emails and texts that look like spam before I open any messages at all and get started on my day.
I believe this distrust has an impact on our customers. We as dealers use social media regularly to inform potential customers of items of importance to our stores that we want to share.
With all the deep fakes taking place, how long will it be before consumer trust in social media is generally eroded? Is it time to question or at least revisit our social media communication strategy?
Don’t get me wrong. AI has some very positive applications that will greatly improve how certain segments of society operate. Health care, manufacturing, education, finance, law, and accounting are some examples, even automobile dealerships. Anywhere where huge amounts of data need to be absorbed quickly and efficiently will benefit greatly. It could be a net plus for society.
It’s the intersection of media and social media that concerns me. The unwanted messages that are pushed onto our customers from outsiders. When an individual or organization wants to reposition opinions of large segments of society or impressions of a brand or even a dealership, that’s when misuse of technology becomes harmful.
Unfortunately, the ease at which misuse can take place creates a true environment of mistrust and that is not in any way healthy.
For example, a totally false video is released on social media about your brand and in particular some vehicle models that are popular. There are pictures, logos and perhaps even a video with the image of the President of the company. This is sent to your customers smartphones. The content is totally false but nonetheless the reputational damage has been done.
I believe we are entering into a period of prolonged uncertainty about the integrity of the information that we review daily. We will all need to be more skeptical to protect ourselves and our dealerships. This is moving very quickly, much faster than governments’ ability to enact legislation and safeguards.
I do not have the answers on how we protect ourselves and our businesses other than to practice ultra-sensitive high-level cyber security practices.
We must continue to build trust with our customers at every opportunity to give us the leg up on AI driven customer impressions that could affect our dealership businesses.
