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‘World’s first’ MRI for cars unveiled as AI takes over vehicle inspections – high-tech system saves drivers time
Some customers don't trust the automation, while others celebrate it
ENGINEERS have created the world's first completely automated inspection using AI, eliminating the need for a manual inspection.
The vehicle "MRI" uses AI to do a 360 scan to look for leaks, cutting inspection time in half.
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The BMW dealership in Honolulu unveiled the world's first hands-free car inspection drive-through, representing an advancement in technology when it comes to vehicle repair.
The "MRI" for cars utilizes sensitive scanners that perform a 360-degree scan of the vehicle paired with AI to look for potential repairs.
A condition report is sent to a manned kiosk after the vehicle is scanned from roof to tires.
The report can also be sent directly to someone's computer or phone, reported .
The purpose of the automated inspection service is to reduce customer costs and wait times by eliminating the need for a technician to perform the job.
Inspection times are halved with the machine, making it more appealing for most customers looking for a visual inspection.
"This has cut the time in which we scan our cars we used to do it hand by hand," said Lydell Bangloy, the service manager for the dealership.
"We used to do it manually. So our service associate would walk around the car with the camera and go around and check for damages. Now with this machine, it takes a few seconds just to drive through and it does a 360 scan around the car and it looks underneath the car as well."
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Computers make the inspection more accurate, as no bias is applied, and computers aren't affected by fatigue like a human technician might be.
This sort of technology is utilized by the US military, the outlet reported, but this is the first time it's been seen in a civilian-oriented format.
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Tim Palms, the general manager, wouldn't reveal the exact cost of the technology - but is confident it will pay for itself over time.
"I wanted to get a high-resolution imagery of every car that came in here so that we could avoid needing to do walk-around videos on every single car or take pictures if there's damage and things like that on check-in," he said.
"Because that really, really really slows things down. So by able being able to automate that we're able to speed up that customer checking process."
While dealership executives celebrate the technology and the benefits it will have for their customers, others are wary.
Jaqueline Romero has been a long-time BMW owner and frequents the dealership for repairs.
What are the arguments against AI?
Artificial intelligence is a highly contested issue, and it seems everyone has a stance on it. Here are some common arguments against it:
Loss of jobs - Some industry experts argue that AI will create new niches in the job market, and as some roles are eliminated, others will appear. However, many artists and writers insist the argument is ethical, as generative AI tools are being trained on their work and wouldn't function otherwise.
Ethics - When AI is trained on a dataset, much of the content is taken from the Internet. This is almost always, if not exclusively, done without notifying the people whose work is being taken.
Privacy - Content from personal social media accounts may be fed to language models to train them. Concerns have cropped up as Meta unveils its AI assistants across platforms like Facebook and Instagram. There have been legal challenges to this: in 2016, legislation was created to protect personal data in the EU, and similar laws are in the works in the United States.
Misinformation - As AI tools pulls information from the Internet, they may take things out of context or suffer hallucinations that produce nonsensical answers. Tools like Copilot on Bing and Google's generative AI in search are always at risk of getting things wrong. Some critics argue this could have lethal effects - such as AI prescribing the wrong health information.
She can appreciate the technology but isn't ready to put her trust in it.
"I don't trust A.I. I'm kind of afraid of A.I.," she said.
While she remains cautious, in this particular instance, she said she could see the potential benefits.
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"But in this instance, I think it's a good thing because I think it's going to be a little more accurate than someone walking around their car and checking the details of the photograph that this is gonna take," she continued.
"It's going to be a little more accurate."
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