A Moral Dilemma within Embracing Artificial Intelligence
Brian Bachand, CEO of Westover Auto Salvage, based in the US, confronts a growing dilemma in the auto recycling industry: Is artificial intelligence a tool for progress or a threat to people? As AI reshapes operations, Bachand challenges recyclers to consider what’s gained, what’s lost, and whether the human element still has a place.
How do you feel about artificial intelligence? Are you finding yourself embracing innovation or embattled with self-preservation? AI is everywhere, and it looks to be here to stay. It seems to be an inescapable topic that everyone wants to weigh in on. And why not, since most adults and even our children are interacting with AI on a daily basis. Whether it be in our leisure time, during work, or on a school day, at some point or another, most people are utilizing or communicating with artificial intelligence. This fact may evoke mixed feelings, but regardless of one’s opinion, the future is changing, and when it comes to AI, tough decisions are upon us all.
So, how has the auto recycling industry responded to the integration of this concept?
An innovative science designed by humans that has the potential to surpass and or even replace its creators. Are we buying into efficiency at the expense of our humility, or are we keeping our emotions in check while applying AI tools to our operations that aim to benefit the greater good? Whatever the path forward may be for each auto recycler, we are all headed toward a moral dilemma that is at the forefront of this debate.
“In essence, AI is transforming auto recycling from a traditional, manual business into a highly data-driven, efficient, and technologically advanced industry. It’s not about replacing human workers, but rather about empowering them with smarter tools to make better decisions, increase productivity, and create more value from every vehicle”. Does that sound professional or paradoxical? This generated response was created by Gemini, Google’s own AI.
Although this assessment seems spot on, there is a silver lining here that seems a little unnerving. There is no denying that the benefits of artificial intelligence are bountiful and plentiful. When and how auto recyclers will integrate these tools depends on the recycler; however, going forward, these types of lighting-in-the-bottle responses will become more frequent and perhaps even more illuminating in the grander scheme of things.
Larger scopes are at play here, and the limitations of what AI can do are infinite given the undertaking of its generative learning. With that in mind, questions arise, such as who serves whom and when do the rules no longer apply? What is the code of conduct? (if there is one) And how is one to navigate the appropriate and necessary uses of AI? Without answers to these questions or guidelines for understanding the nature of the beast we have created, we open ourselves and our business up to a new kind of risk aversion. This all but potentially leads us to a state of autopilot and perhaps creates an illusion of progress, or confuses innovation with forward-thinking laziness. For example, what is stopping me from running this topic through ChatGPT and having it write this article about AI in the auto recycling community for me? What is deterring a publication from doing the same thing, instead of calling upon the merits of a writer? And what is coming between you and the decision to replace a sales, inventory or shipping department employee with an AI tool? That reason is one only a human can give, for it is the product of the human conscience and free will. It is those intangible traits that will determine the trajectory of AI and how far we choose to take this endeavor.
So, without sounding too doom and gloom, who or what is replaceable? Who or what qualifies these decisions, and what are the drivers that determine the outcome? Where do we draw the line between the perception of AI as a tool vs a crutch? People are thinking this, but maybe we are afraid to say it. Maybe this is a situation that, unfortunately, we have to be cruel in order to be kind.
Here are some facts:
Integrating any tool into your operations is based on your needs, your ability to fund and operate the tool, and what the ROI will be. AI is no different. These tools have the potential to transform your business and operations through what Gemini generates as “enhancing part & vehicle valuation, streamlining inventory management and operations, increasing efficiency and reducing labor cost and improving environmental sustainability”.
Platforms such as Intropy and Sabhi are proven products that filter large volumes of data and communications within your business to optimize your operations model. Companies like Tractable and Ravan AI have created AI assistance to analyze vehicle and part valuation to strengthen and streamline inventory and production strategy and procedures. And then you have the generic prompt-based AI entities such as Gemini, ChatGPT, AI Agents and Chat Bots that can be filtered and trained to create desired outcomes in minutes, given their access to almost unlimited data and applying prompt rules. If you can give an AI enough data, put rules in place and train it to process and respond in a manner that you deem best for your operation, then what is stopping you from replacing obsolete practices and other inefficiencies? Or perhaps do these subject processes or people fall into these pitfalls and thus need to ask the question, who or what is replaceable?
In all my experience with AI, it has never independently asked for a raise or requested time off for any personal matter. It did not give an attitude when I needed solutions immediately, nor did it feel slighted or sullen because I did not act on its advice or give it an ‘attaboy’ for a job well done. That is because artificial intelligence is not human. This phenomenon is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the employer does not have to deal with human deficiencies and drama. On the other hand, what most agree AI fundamentally lacks is the human element. An AI is a computer that humans currently aim to leverage as a tool to do what it cannot readily do, given its own limitations.
However, even an AI tool can have its limitations. The lack of feelings, or the inability to exercise free will and tap into one’s own independent conscience, hinders its ability to fully comprehend and respond to certain inquiries, situations, and communications. In a nutshell, for most, the ideal AI would be a subservient robot that will continue to learn everything it needs without creating its own identity or manifesting its own needs that may compromise our demands. Talk about scary. It is a catch-22, where it is up to us humans to decide how to use artificial intelligence and to what extent. In times where it may be perceived that today’s workforce yearns to do less, work less and earn more, the appeal of AI will continue to grow. However, for those whose job security is not above reproach or who are averse to being replaced by AI, understanding how AI can complement rather than control us seems to be the happy medium.
Artificial Intelligence will continue to trend and evolve to better serve its users’ needs. Our moral dilemma lies in choosing between the efficiency and consistency of computer science and the unique intangibles that make us human, as well as our self-preservation. We are in business to make money. What is the cost of these AI tools from a startup and from a future perspective? Will it be an active choice or a force of hand that will determine if our processes and even our people are to become obsolete? We know there is technology in place to dismantle vehicles, and we are experiencing the growth of AI tools that are capable of inventory and sales. How long before more tasks and jobs are subject to review to determine whether artificial intelligence can replace the human element? Am I replaceable? How can I compete with the likes of this technology? But also, how can I use AI to benefit myself, my operations and my business? Can I integrate a tool that buys cars so I can focus elsewhere? Or is there a way to implement an AI to take the load off your team so they can spend their energies in the areas that you need them in order to grow, evolve and prosper?
The age of AI is here, and the demand for digital diligence in the auto recycling arena is on the rise. Understanding the pros and cons of artificial intelligence is a must moving forward, just as much as understanding our own needs and strategies for utilizing any tool we are to integrate into our business. Awareness of the profit and pitfalls of this type of technology will force not only this industry to make difficult decisions, but has already thrust society into the center of this moral abjection. What are we willing to sacrifice in the name of progress? And are we prepared for the consequences we have begun to devise in our pursuit of evolution? My hope is that man, machine and auto recyclers alike will act and choose wisely when it comes to furthering the AI agenda.
Malcolm Forbes once said, “The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one”. May our resolve be that our desire for AI innovation through open-mindedness does not lead to overreliance or overzealousness of this technology, to the extent that we no longer aspire to learn and that we are left with empty heads and empty hands.
