Alexa Diagnostics

[Passport1]

Y'all know we've come to this point.

Being some what a Luddite I've resisted but no more. Alexa has diagnosed a few things that would have been kept me chasing my tail. She? provides CEL code explanations, torque specs, sensor values, minimum/max standards etc. Things we need to know to fix things. She? can even provide light banter while under the car and carping about it. Is AI helpful or irritating? Friend or foe? Will she replace us?

Do you use it?

 

[D60]

Also, very offended you did not ask Alexa "their" pronouns

 

[HemiBenny]

I always say “Alexa, thank you” when I have her stop playing music in the garage. She responds with a nice comment.
When the T-1000s come around, maybe they’ll remember that I was a nice guy and always thanked them.



I’ll be back.

 

[FarmerJake42]

I always say, “Alexa, thank you” when I have her stop playing music in the garage. She responds with a nice comment.
When the T-1000s come around, maybe they’ll remember that I was a nice guy and always thanked them.



I’ll be back.

I do the same, just in case.

 

[Capt W]

I actually find it to be a gamble. Alexa and other "AI" programs (which really aren't even AI...people are merely fond of using that term) simply pull and aggregate data from myriad sources and spit them out. Problems may arise when questionable data is pulled and used.

As Abraham Lincoln has pointed out for over 20 years, "You can't trust everything you read on the Internet." The majority of these programs retrieve both erroneous and accurate data and provide results. It's nothing but a modern-day - yet very fast - garbage-in/garbage-out data retrieval tool. The key is to gather accurate and authoritative data to help with any diagnosis.

Things like "P0---" DTCs are standardized and pretty well-known. Not a lot of danger there. On the other hand, you can often find wild variations in torque specs and other essential vehicle information when scouring the Internet. That's why when checking "Google AI" for an answer, there's always a disclaimer at the end of the text: "AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts." No kidding...

Your best sources for information will always be authoritative sources, not an amalgamated mish-mash of crap from the web. Grab a factory service manual for starters. They're made by the people who built the cars...people who tend to know a little more than a computer program. Another authoritative source is someone who does the work for a living and has made the fix you're attempting. YouTube videos can be a wonderful tool here; however, you have to be able to discriminate between a competent professional mechanic and a hack.

"AI" (and again, what 99% of people see is not AI) can indeed be helpful to speed up some mundane tasks. It will not "take over," "escape," or perform any other science fiction horror story scenarios.

Use these tools, but verify the data. Or simply use authoritative sources from the get-go and skip a step.

The real danger, of course, is the fact these tools tend to further dull peoples' problem-solving and critical thinking skills. It seems over half the population can't read, write, spell, or perform basic math. Critical thinking skills have been destroyed for over a generation. The response is always, "Why should people have to do any of this? Their little machines do it for them, right?"

 

[Passport1]

It seems over half the population can't read, write, spell, or perform basic math. Critical thinking skills have been destroyed for over a generation

Bingo!

 

[spasm3]

I do not.

 

[Leo99]

It can be a valuable tool. Just like any tool, you need to know when it's the right tool for the job.

 

[D60]

I actually find it to be a gamble. Alexa and other "AI" programs (which really aren't even AI...people are merely fond of using that term) simply pull and aggregate data from myriad sources and spit them out. Problems may arise when questionable data is pulled and used.

As Abraham Lincoln has pointed out for over 20 years, "You can't trust everything you read on the Internet." The majority of these programs retrieve both erroneous and accurate data and provide results. It's nothing but a modern-day - yet very fast - garbage-in/garbage-out data retrieval tool. The key is to gather accurate and authoritative data to help with any diagnosis.

Things like "P0---" DTCs are standardized and pretty well-known. Not a lot of danger there. On the other hand, you can often find wild variations in torque specs and other essential vehicle information when scouring the Internet. That's why when checking "Google AI" for an answer, there's always a disclaimer at the end of the text: "AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts." No kidding...

Your best sources for information will always be authoritative sources, not an amalgamated mish-mash of crap from the web. Grab a factory service manual for starters. They're made by the people who built the cars...people who tend to know a little more than a computer program. Another authoritative source is someone who does the work for a living and has made the fix you're attempting. YouTube videos can be a wonderful tool here; however, you have to be able to discriminate between a competent professional mechanic and a hack.

"AI" (and again, what 99% of people see is not AI) can indeed be helpful to speed up some mundane tasks. It will not "take over," "escape," or perform any other science fiction horror story scenarios.

Use these tools, but verify the data. Or simply use authoritative sources from the get-go and skip a step.

The real danger, of course, is the fact these tools tend to further dull peoples' problem-solving and critical thinking skills. It seems over half the population can't read, write, spell, or perform basic math. Critical thinking skills have been destroyed for over a generation. The response is always, "Why should people have to do any of this? Their little machines do it for them, right?"

This. Google's "AI" search results seem to scrape forums, Reddit and FB user groups. ANY Cletus can post anything on those and I regularly find errors

Reddit and FB are particularly bad IME -- lots of misinformation or dumb comments but EXTREMELY light on actual tech.

 

[Timmastertech]

You have a better chance of seeing Jesus today than seeing me use AI

 

[Drifter]

I will look. (Its usually at the top of the search page) But I do not trust AI. Always verify and re verify no matter who (or what) is posting.

 

[RooflessVW]

I prefer to use my brain, thanks.

 

[HemiBenny]

I prefer to use my brain, thanks.

That is becoming a lost art.

 

[willbur]

I actually find it to be a gamble. Alexa and other "AI" programs (which really aren't even AI...people are merely fond of using that term) simply pull and aggregate data from myriad sources and spit them out. Problems may arise when questionable data is pulled and used.

As Abraham Lincoln has pointed out for over 20 years, "You can't trust everything you read on the Internet." The majority of these programs retrieve both erroneous and accurate data and provide results. It's nothing but a modern-day - yet very fast - garbage-in/garbage-out data retrieval tool. The key is to gather accurate and authoritative data to help with any diagnosis.

Things like "P0---" DTCs are standardized and pretty well-known. Not a lot of danger there. On the other hand, you can often find wild variations in torque specs and other essential vehicle information when scouring the Internet. That's why when checking "Google AI" for an answer, there's always a disclaimer at the end of the text: "AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts." No kidding...

Your best sources for information will always be authoritative sources, not an amalgamated mish-mash of crap from the web. Grab a factory service manual for starters. They're made by the people who built the cars...people who tend to know a little more than a computer program. Another authoritative source is someone who does the work for a living and has made the fix you're attempting. YouTube videos can be a wonderful tool here; however, you have to be able to discriminate between a competent professional mechanic and a hack.

"AI" (and again, what 99% of people see is not AI) can indeed be helpful to speed up some mundane tasks. It will not "take over," "escape," or perform any other science fiction horror story scenarios.

Use these tools, but verify the data. Or simply use authoritative sources from the get-go and skip a step.

The real danger, of course, is the fact these tools tend to further dull peoples' problem-solving and critical thinking skills. It seems over half the population can't read, write, spell, or perform basic math. Critical thinking skills have been destroyed for over a generation. The response is always, "Why should people have to do any of this? Their little machines do it for them, right?"

You're right. I spot errors and ask the agent where it got its info. It replies from manufacturer's data, manuals, books, forums, etc. Ask two agents and get completely different replies so I am very skeptical of "AI". Some ppl tell me the paid versions of these agents are more accurate. I dunno...<shrug>

 

[Zebra312]

Absolutely not

 

[Dave9]

The problem is when it hallucinates 1 time out of 10, and you've become brain dead from using it a lot so that you almost don't recognize the hallucinations and trust it too much. However I am only generalizing as I don't use AI for auto repair, but have for some other repairs.

 

[Capt W]

ANY Cletus can post anything on those and I regularly find errors

You doesn't trust Cletus?

 

[STL_G8GT]

I go to the manuals for torque specs. As previously stated, there's no check on what info AI spits out.

 

[brages]

For something as important as auto repair, I gotta go with a safer source like google results from car forums. For more trivial stuff like health issues, I like the LLMs.

 

[D60]

You doesn't trust Cletus?

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Related: Apparently the real Cooter just died