Industry Insight with John Yoswick
—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
Fully Automated AI Collision Repair Estimating ‘Not There Yet’
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A panel discussion at the Collision tions. Industry Conference (CIC) in Las “We’re not there yet, 100%, Vegas in November included repre- with straight-through processing,” with Ed Attanasio sentatives from a number of technol- said Dune Pagaduan of Mitchell ogy companies touting the potential International, referring to AI being benefits—for auto body shops and capable of completing all estimates without human interaction. “So is AI real? Sure, it assists us in making and automating decisions, thousands with Ed Attanasio at a time…more quickly so that we shrink cycle time. But you still need experts, humans, to complete the whole process.” He said AI systems can currently write accurate estimates on “low-severity collisions.” with Ed Attanasio “But when you get to higher severity type collisions—more comDune Pagaduan of Mitchell International plex, more parts—then that’s the said AI can help collision repair businesses journey we have to go to get to that increase consistency in their estimating 100%,” he said. “I think in the next insurers—of artificial intelligence two to three years, we’ll get there.” (AI) estimating,with but also acknowl- The panelists were asked if any Ed Attanasio edging some of its current limita- AI system built on historical data
can identify substrates, systems and OEM procedures for nearly new vehicles often involved in collisions. “That is the challenge,” Pagaduan said, noting historical data ideally needs to be paired with other in-
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Jason Verlen of CCC Intelligent Solutions said about 22% of repairable claims are currently processed through AI photo-estimating
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build sheet data and OEM repair procedures for the specific vehicle.
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“So not everything is AI. We combine it with the OEM procedures and our editorial data to produce that specific accurate estimate.” In discussing what AI estimating offers shops specifically, the panelists noted the wide variance in estimates often seen even when different estimators look at the same vehicle. AI can help collision repair businesses increase consistency in their estimating, Pagaduan said. Panelist Jason Verlen of CCC Intelligent Solutions said it also offers shops access to photos and information even before the customer arrives. He noted as recently as three years ago, fewer than 1% of vehicle claims involved photo-estimating. “As of today, roughly 22% of repairable claims go through the process,” he said. “And we have some carriers on our system where
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