At Adam Liu’s three M-Spec Performance locations dotting Queens and Long Island, New York, artificial intelligence is slowly creeping into workflow, turning weaknesses into wins.

For example, the paperwork that taxes technicians and service advisors now takes a fraction of the time to write. Even better—the notes are complete and easy for customers to understand.

“I have some technicians that English is not their first language, and so for them to write up technical notes is quite difficult, but now it's not at all. Like their notes are amazing. Why? Because AI wrote them for them,” Liu points out.  

While some are resistant to the technology for fear of unreliability or robots taking over the industry, AI can help solve pain points for those who embrace it. Although it won’t solve every problem—and it shouldn’t—used correctly, it can help to streamline and strengthen operations and leave more time for maintaining productivity and building customer relationships.

Liu admits not all AI is created equal, and it must be tested and verified before turning any process over to it, but he’s not afraid to try.

“AI is so helpful in so many ways that even the naysayers, unless they're so stubborn, will have to see the benefit,” he asserts.

Others in the industry tend to agree. According to the 2026 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey, 22% of respondents saw the greatest potential for AI in technician support while 20% favored marketing and customer communication (see sidebar, Where Do You See the Greatest Potential for AI to Help Your Business?).

To further embrace its capabilities, Liu has moved beyond paperwork and into marketing, call sentiment, analytics, and AI agents.

It’s been a progression with bumps and learning curves, but the experimentation has a significant payoff for Liu’s employees and their workflow.

“You don't have to do everything with AI if you don't want to, but you can't be afraid of it,” he notes. “You have to learn about it. You have to understand how it works. You have to understand how to manipulate it. You have to understand how to work around it.

For shop owners who are still weighing how—and where—to use AI, the technology is already changing everything from the way customers search for repairs to how employees handle everyday tasks. And the potential applications are only expanding.

Beyond the Hype

As an industry resource that provides digital marketing solutions to auto repair shops, Autoshop Solutions is no stranger to changing technology. In fact, it’s typically at the forefront of these headwinds that help to shape the most beneficial resources for shop owners. When it comes to AI, however, Vice President of Revenue Tony Mercury cautions against getting caught up in a craze that may only be sustainable for the short term.

“There's all these new pop-ups every single day (promising to) do this and do that, but they don't have a large user base,” he cautions. “They don't have time in the industry. They're kind of just these new pop-up overnight operations.

Instead, Mercury notes, shop owners should be paying particular attention to how AI is changing consumer behavior. He notes that while conversations with ChatGPT and Claude are helping customers self-diagnose their problems and appear to be knowledgeable, they’re merely repeating information they were given during the AI discussion.

“So, you have your equation, but you don't have the equal sign and what the actual solution is behind it,” he notes. “Like you still have to talk to a human.”

He points out that this is where shop owners can take the reins and help customers connect the dots to make sound decisions using their own knowledge base and expertise instead of relying on possibilities thrown out by a chatbot.  

Where Technology Shines

Mercury also encourages shop owners to lean into technology—not to replace people—but to become a “force multiplier” to make people more efficient at their jobs. He uses an example that he refers to as “swivel chair reporting” to drive home the point.

“You're going to system A, you're pulling a couple data points, you're going to system B, you're going to system C,” he explains. “So let the agent do that and build that dashboard for you. And then you can have it sync, you can have it refreshable, where you can just go in every morning at 7 a.m. all your data points are ready, and it can recap the previous day.”

In this way, he says, shop owners can leverage AI not to make decisions on their behalf, but to provide the information needed to make those decisions easier to see.

Similarly, Mercury says, is how service advisors can use chatbots to pool information to have more informed discussions with customers. In addition to personal information, the agent can feed data points to pick up where you left off in a previous conversation.

“So, you can say, ‘hey, are you calling back in … about the brakes we recommended last time you were here,’ or, ‘I see you’re approaching your 40,000-mile. Have you considered doing that service yet,’” he explains. “So, it’s just feeding and guiding that conversation. That’s going to be a huge help.”

When it comes to estimates, Liu says, AI can be helpful, particularly for those who do not have a strong service background.  

“The industry certainly has gone in the way of hiring … people from (other industries) like hospitality that don't necessarily know about cars,” he points out. “And this is just another thing that's going to help them make that transition much easier in case they have to estimate their own tickets. And … it creates a lot more efficiency in the shop.”

Liu envisions AI may also have a role in delivering digital video inspections that involve technicians using a pair of glasses while walking around a vehicle or examining its underside to point out current or potential maintenance priorities.

“And it takes that video data and then creates pictures, videos, and explanations on a DVI automatically so that a technician doesn't have to write anything or even post anything,” he explains. “That's probably not ready today … but it's going to happen eventually.”

Humans are Still Desired

And while technology continues to improve and shop owners continue to find ways to use it for efficiency, there are some areas where it falls short—particularly in the customer experience.

For example, Mercury says, while AI is beneficial outside regular business hours, he cautions against trying to use it during the day or for overflow, as many still want to connect with a human who can decipher connections and emotion.

“They're never going to be as dynamic as a human, especially understanding tone and inflection. Some people, their car is their life, it's a part of their family,” he explains. “So, it's really discerning, ‘Do they just want to get the car in or do they want a whole conversation’?”

Although AI is currently unable to make these distinctions, Mercury notes, “it’s very quickly getting there.”

Mercury surmises that although AI and similar technologies are experiencing a heyday, the bubble will eventually burst, similar to the dot-com boom of the 2000s, and only a few major players will be left standing.

“Once we hit this critical mass of AI adoption, I think it's going to come back down. It won't go back down to zero, but maybe one-third or two-thirds blend of AI to human,” he asserts. “And I really think in the future, we're going to see big advertising campaigns that like we're a human-first organization. Because I think a lot of people are going to be looking for human interaction.”

For shop owners, the takeaway isn’t to find a way to incorporate AI into every process. It’s to understand where the technology can make the business better, use it where it adds value, and know when a human should remain in the driver’s seat. As AI continues to evolve, the shops that benefit most may not be those using it everywhere, but those using it wisely.