I've been a technician a lot longer than I've been anything else. The hard part of the job was never turning the wrench. It's finding the right information, deciding what it means for this car, and knowing what to test next.
AI doesn't diagnose a car. The technician does. What it's good at is the reading: finding the page, summing up a long bulletin, pulling together what's already known about a problem, and helping put the findings into words.
What we can work on
Finding information. Service information, bulletins, wiring diagrams, forum threads, the note another tech wrote on this same car two years ago. A technician can lose half an hour looking before any testing starts. We set up the lookups your techs do most so they take a minute.
The right tool for the question. A search tool that cites its sources is good for "has anyone seen this." A chat tool is good for "help me think through what this reading means." They aren't the same, and using the wrong one gets you a confident wrong answer. I teach techs which to use when, and how to check what comes back.
Turning it into next steps. A scan report and a page of specs aren't a plan. We work on going from what the car is telling you to a short list: test this first, here's what a good result looks like, here's what to do if it isn't.
Tech notes people can use. What you saw, what you tested, what you found, what caused it, what you recommend. Written once, clearly, so the advisor can explain it and the customer can follow it. A good note is what makes an honest repair look honest.
The car's history in one place. Everything this vehicle has had done, and everything the customer put off, without scrolling through years of repair orders.
Shop memory. The hard diagnosis your best tech solved last year shouldn't have to be solved again from zero. We can keep those where the next tech will find them.
How it works
- Start with one tech and one kind of job. Usually the lookup or the write-up that eats the most time.
- Use the shop's own information. Your repair history, your notes, the service information you already pay for.
- Check its work. AI gets things wrong, and it sounds sure when it does. Techs learn where it's reliable and where to verify against the service information.
- Keep the technician in charge. It suggests. The tech decides, tests and signs off.
What we can build toward
- A note-writing coach that walks a tech from observation to recommendation.
- Vehicle history that can be searched and asked questions.
- Fast lookups for the service and parts information we use most.
These are examples of tools we can develop for your shop. We check what information is available, try one workflow with a technician, and verify the results before relying on it.
Who this is for
- Shops where one person is the answer to every hard question.
- Good technicians who would rather fix cars than write about them.
- Owners who want the newer techs to have what the experienced one carries in his head.