RECAP GAME ON:
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMS COLLISION REPAIR Technological advances pervade everything around us, and that theme carried over into several fast-paced presentations at the Collision Industry Conference’s (CIC) November 2 meeting, held in Las Vegas in conjunction with the 2021 SEMA Show. Demonstrating how AI works in the collision repair space, CIC’s Future Disruptions Committee hosted experts from Claims Genius, CCC, Tractable and Mitchell International to share insights on “The Reality, Risks, Limitations and the Future,” facilitated by Committee Co-Chairs Frank Terlep and Jake Rodenroth. “As long as the underlying data is good, your AI can be reliable and your risk will be taken care of,” said Raj Pofale (Claims Genius). “If the image quality is not good, the AI will not be good. There are also limitations to finding out what’s underneath the hood, so we need to look at these things very carefully when using AI, but AI is the future.” AI is based on historical data, though, and Terlep questioned the benefits of AI with other new technologies, such as EVs, and how repair procedures can be incorporated into the process, as well as “everything else that makes up a safe and proper repair.” Jimmy Spears (Tractable) believes the
solution lies in solving the dilemma of build sheet data and helping to educate repairers to make the best judgments during the process. The goal of AI isn’t to replace people but “to assist humans with making better decisions faster which will reduce cycle time,” Dune Pagaduan (Mitchell International) stressed. “But we need feedback from repairers to improve the accuracy of AI.” In addressing the challenges of various AI systems producing different results and data, Jason Verlen (CCC) pointed out, “That’s really not an AI problem. Well before the AI era, if we walked into three shops with a damaged vehicle, would we get the same estimate from all three? So, when you ask if our AI is accurate and matches what the human would do, I have to wonder which guy you want me to match. AI isn’t magic; we combine AI with build sheet data, business rules, associated actions, insurer guidelines, etc. to come up with an estimate that’s reasonable to the situation.” During the next session, Estimating Committee Chair Danny Gredinberg stressed the importance of utilizing OEM repair procedures when writing an estimate: “Any intervention or deviation from the standard puts the consumer at risk. If we deviate from the repair plan and put our
CIC Parts and Committee Co-chair Aaron Schulenburg moderated a panel of experts on LIDAR and its imminent usage in vehicles that repairers will see in their shops.
personal opinion of how something should be fixed ahead of the OEM repair procedures, something catastrophic can happen, and we want to avoid that and reduce our liability as repairers.” Discussing “The Nuts and Bolts of Electrification” during the Emerging Technologies Committee’s update, Dr. Mark L. Quarto (Quarto Technical Services) addressed the hazards associated with repairing high voltage safety systems, urging collision technicians to obtain training immediately as
“SEMA’s back! It’s a really good crowd, definitely better than what I expected. The major vendors are all here, and they have some really cool stuff going on outside.” - Accudraft CEO Guido Pippa
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December 2021
“It’s been a really good SEMA. We’ve had a lot of great meetings, great engagement. We’re very pleased. It’s been a good week and great to see all the industry partners in person after a long 18 months.” - BASF Marketing Services Manager Tina Nelles “It’s been great to be out here to talk to customers, see fellow exhibitors, swap notes and learn new things!” - Chesapeake Automotive Equipment Owner Pat O’Neill
