AI could save automotive businesses more than £40k per year

Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as chatbots and automated financial reporting, could save automotive businesses, including dealers, more than £40,000 per year.

A new report from Yell has revealed the time, money and effort savings companies around the world could stand to make from AI. The automotive sector was found to benefit the most.

Claire Miles, chief executive officer of Yell, said: “The digital revolution has already changed many aspects of our everyday lives, both at home and at work. 

“It seems we are on the verge of another revolution with AI, with the time-saving and money-making capabilities of the technology being an absolute game-changer. The responsibility is now on business leaders of the world to ensure that any form of artificial intelligence is implemented properly, with the right security measures to alleviate trust and privacy concerns, as well as using it effectively and sensitively to create more specialised jobs, as the way we all work changes.”

With data showing that AI in some form is already used in 83% of UK businesses, Yell’s report delves into more detail about this rapidly evolving technology. By using insight gained from surveys with consumers and business leaders, the findings help to shine a light on current attitudes towards AI and the benefits to large and small businesses.   

Namely, the report reveals that by adopting AI such as chatbots and automated financial reporting, businesses can save an average of nearly 40 hours each week, or 2,075 hours per year. 

This substantial time saving also translates to revenue, with UK business leaders surveyed stating that AI can help them to substantially cut operational costs. Based on the savings outlined by those surveyed, this equates to average savings of more than £29,000 each year.  

Despite this great potential, Yell’s report highlights potential barriers to AI being fully integrated into business plans moving forward. For the business leaders surveyed, the main barrier lies with the concern over human job losses. 67% of the business leaders surveyed stated that they were concerned advancements in AI would result in job losses, creating a challenging landscape for business owners who want to benefit from cost and time savings, but avoid making redundancies. 

For consumers, the main barriers centred around trust, with many expressing concerns about using AI such as voice assistants. 75% feel worried that their data will fall into the wrong hands, 68% have concerns about strangers hacking their devices and interestingly, 50% of the UK population are concerned about the government listening in to their conversations, via a voice assistant. 

Nissan GB-owned dealer group, West Way, launched an online car retail website with AI features, last year

The website is e-commerce enabled, has built-in tracking and allows for tailored content delivery to all visitors with machine learning and AI, said West Way.

It can track visitors, identify them by name and change content to suit each visitor by using an algorithm that can predict the likely interest of each person.

GForces, meanwhile, has developed a new video solution for car retailers that automatically produces video content for all vehicles in stock.

Working in partnership with AI specialist Phyron, GForces has integrated the new software with its NetDirector Auto-e digital platform.

The complany claims that car retailers have been unable to routinely create video content for every vehicle in their portfolio because the process is time-consuming and costly.