I’ve been an amateur artist most of my life. I won some art contests when I was a kid, and whenever I’m feeling creative, I grab a paper and pencil — and increasing, my laptop and a digital pen or mouse or tablet — and get to work making something.
I made the image above, in fact. Like it? If you don’t, that’s OK. I won’t take it personally.
I did “make” it, however, as I used the artificial intelligence program DALL-E 2 to render the image. Specifically, I typed the instructions, “people getting into an electric vehicle at a trade show while other people watch them and look at products at the trade show booth.” Within a few seconds, several images were shown to me that can be downloaded and used wherever I want.
The image itself I chose is not perfect. It looks a little weird if you look closely. But if I wanted to, I could ask DALL-E 2 to work with that image and make it just a little bit better. And keep going if I don’t like the next image.
You can probably see where this is going. If you can use a computer to create a work of art or photo that looks indistinguishable from a real one, where can we go from there?
But you’re already using or experiencing artificial intelligence every day of your life. And artificial intelligence will power every single aspect of the automotive aftermarket (as well as every other industry!)
Consider that this email is sent via a newsletter platform that uses artificial intelligence. The email you use every day does, too. If your vehicle has ADAS abilities, you’re using artificial intelligence. As I’m writing this column in Google Docs, it’s suggesting words to me to finish the sentence. The suggestions aren’t always quite accurate but sometimes, Google is surprisingly spot-on and is practically reading my mind. Whatever streaming service you use, it learns you and your family’s viewing habits and serves up suggestions to keep you hooked.
I could go on and on.
How are you using artificial intelligence in your job in this industry? I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line at mark@lpnewmedia.com.
For the latest news and information on the global automotive aftermarket industry, visit https://aftermarketintel.com. Do you have news? Contact Aftermarket Intel Editor Mark Phillips at mark@lpnewmedia.com. He’s on LinkedIn here.
