Diagnostics Using ChatGPT

Using AI to diagnose is probably like other results (medical, how-to, etc.) so one generally needs some prior knowledge in order to detect abnormalities or obvious errors in the results. But knowing that, you can get some interesting outcomes.

My 2001 Tacoma, 3.4L, 5-speed transmission, 160k miles, has developed a loud 'tick' or ping sound (I first did a search to find all the possible words that mechanics may use to describe oddball sounds). I constructed a decent 'prompt' (question) for Chat, then stated the vehicle year, type (like above), and finally, described the problem. The pinging sound only happens when taking off from a dead stop in 1st gear and occasionally after shifting into 2nd gear. It's also somewhat random though it's seems to be increasing in frequency. Though maybe warmer temps adds to that. I asked Chat to advise what the origin of the problem could be and what steps to take. The last sentence in the image results below also says if I want a deep dive into the drivetrain issues it can provide that too. I said yes and got another 3 pages of fairly detailed, step-by-step method to check the rear diff.

It's not all encompassing but it's a pretty good overview of things to check that could take a person a long time to cover all the possibilities.

 

Thanks but no thanks to AI.

 

I used it to write my resume - if recruiters and such are using it, level the playing field.

I've used it to get ideas from brain to picture for tattoo designs. It's finicky and the final say is the artist for sure, but it's a lot better than "make me a chicken riding a pig with a cowboy hat on" to a tattoo artist and hope for the best. I can do a lot more iterations ahead of talking to the artists.

 

I for one am fed up with AI this and AI that, it may have some use cases but it's ruining everything and making people more lazy than they already were IMO.

It's getting force fed to us in everything now, every website you go to has a stupid chatbot popup, vehicles, appliances, phones, TVs, it's getting built into everything. I'm sorry but people need to think for themselves not wait to be told what to do by some computer software, and if I wana know something let me talk to a real person not some stupid chatbot that can't do anything but spit out canned responses.

When it comes to using it for vehicle diagnostics, no. If I want a list of possible causes and spend hours doing useless tests I can look at the useless manufacturer flow chart just like AI can, it's not gona tell you where that corroded wire or intermittent short to ground is or that the engine has an audible compression skip while cranking or that you can do a couple quick/easy checks and get all the info you need alot of the time instead of ripping half the car apart and ohm checking every wire like they would have you do.
That all comes with experience and being able to put your hands on a vehicle and test.

It's no different than the general public thinks we can just plug a scan tool into a vehicle, read a code, and it will tell us exactly what's wrong and what part to replace, that's far from how it is. Doesn't stop parts stores from making millions selling that idea to the public, then people like me get all the basket cases after the parts cannon ammo is used up and the customer is broke.

 

I used to think that kids watching videos of other kids playing video games was the height of inexplicable stupidity.

People copy/pasting AI generated paragraphs into a discussion board just shattered the bar on that one. Funny how I never had a genuine use for the ignore list until that behavior started.

AI can be useful for putting some things on cruise control. But, like cruise control, there's a disproportionate percentage of the population who see no problem with entrusting their critical thinking to it.

 

I've used it to "soften" legal letters or to clean up statements I've made.

Yet to use it at work lol

 

True, and for the time being, it's really only a tool and the person using AI almost certainly has to know enough as to whether the info it's providing is true or not. In that sense, it can pull together a lot of information and provide it in a concise manner which could save a lot of time.

I did searches on TW for odd sounds which as most people know, can be very difficult to find, especially to replicate them in a shop setting. At least this way, it can be distilled down as a starting point.

And not to highjack an automotive forum but when AI gets going for the medical diagnostics world, we'll all benefit a LOT. As of this today, any patient in the US has a 2-in-5 chance of getting the wrong diagnosis from their family doctor - that's a 40% chance of him or her telling us the wrong information about our health. So there's more value than being on cruise control.

 

Check out Perplexity.

https://www.perplexity.ai/

I never really cared about AI until I heard a tech guy explaining how computer tech always progressed at the speed humans could innovate. Now AI is doing it. You can guess how fast tech is going to advance now. Crazy stuff.

 

Work is the only place I use it. Often I need to hammer out a quick memo to my crew when I'm between other tasks. I'll use the "clean it up" button to suggest edits for brevity and professionalism. Then I'll paste what I like out of the suggestions. So far my use/trash ratio is about 50%.

On forums where I'm just here for my own entertainment, it's pure unfiltered lobster shit, 100% of the time.

 

Yeah I guess AI could help with your resume. I just made a bunch of stuff up last time I updated mine, kind of the same idea. I thing I put in there was true, I guess I just made it fit what I applied for. They didn't even have any other applicants but for some reason they needed a resume and a bunch of jibber jabber for the process. The only qualifications needed was being litterate.

Anyway, there was a incident where a girl submitted a term paper school cryed a foul called the girl a cheat accused her of using AI. Tuned out they has no idea what they were talking about, and may have violated a law by uploading her content into AI or something like that. They came back and set the record straight, but why do they act on things when they have no clue as to what is going on, and get themselves in trouble.

I also think it will become like search engines, they are about useless today. Look up anything on a Toyota product and you'll get some half has render and a bull shit story that the Tercel is making a come back.

 

AI is just the Dad I never had

 

I see a lot of people getting good information using AI and it's one of those technologies that like Smart phones, is probably best to understand sufficiently in order to know what's going on around us. That's certainly been the case with dozens of technologies since the Industrial Revolution.

 

Why do I want a hallucination prone chat bot to get in between me and Tacoma World? In other words there are hundreds of people on this forum with lived experience expertise, most of which is in their heads and not written down. If it’s not written down for AI to plagiarize from, then it’s not available for a chat bot to answer. I’d rather get my info from people’s lived experiences on this forum than a chat bots interpretation of the small fraction of those experiences that have been posted.

 

Sounds like the same nonsense about being anti BEV. Still have to meet some one in that category, I've never heard anyone come out as anti EV. Just the same strawman argument perpetuated here. I see some chat about rare earths and their costs and auto manufacturers saying they will likely cut back on development and production. That could change depending what happens there. No, I don't here any people speaking out against technology unless it threatens their way of life and loss of private property.

 

I'm absolutely anti-BEV.

 

You could be AI.

 

Nope. Just a 2X BEV owner.

 

What's the difference searching AI compared to an internet search? The result looks the same to me. Maybe worse result from AI.

 

Didn't like them and got rid of them? You could still drive them and not like them. I see the cost of EV going up along with the price of electricity. I'm still wondering what happens when somone causes an accident when they are parking their hyundai from outside the car. Do they get sued, and will hyundai or which ever manufacturer it is get hit with a class action.

 

First one got totalled after it was lightly rear-ended. Would have taken a $50k loss, if not for replacement-value insurance.
Depreciation, cost of repairs and difficulty to repair are huge issues.
Risk of fire is a significant and constant fear, whether at home in garage or being shipped over water. Sunken and stricken RORO ships shouldn't be an actual thing.
Access to DCFC while away from local area isnt great on the East Coast, and downright miserable in the middle of the county.
Most owners are not prepared for the loss of range in cold weather.

We replaced the lost one with a similar model.
If not for HOV access, there wouldn't be a BEV in our household. No chance. PHEV is the way. Had one for eight years. It's the better solution for the vast majority of drivers.