The problem
Before paint correction or a ceramic coating, careful detailers record existing chips, scratches and kerbed alloys so nobody says the damage happened on their watch. Typing that report takes about 10 minutes per car. A detailer doing 6 such jobs a week spends an hour a week on it.
What the AI does
ChatGPT Voice keeps listening while you use other apps, so you can talk round the car while taking photos in your phone's camera. Say each panel and what you see, and ask it to check you've covered every panel, wheel and the glass. When you finish, the transcript is in the chat, and you ask in text for a condition report by panel, which you send to the customer with your photos before starting. Voice is on every plan; Go (about $9£7€8A$13C$13 a month) gives 3 hours of Live voice in a rolling 24 hours.
A worked example
A mobile detailer in Guildford does about 6 paint correction and ceramic coating jobs a week. Before each one, they walk round the car talking to ChatGPT through earbuds while photographing every mark.
Before
About 10 minutes typing each condition report: 6 a week
After
About 3 minutes checking and sending each report
What it's worth
About $100£75€89A$144C$141 a month in time saved, against about $9£7€8A$13C$13 for ChatGPT Go. Reports drop by 7 minutes each, 42 minutes a week times 4.3 is about 3 hours a month, at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour.
How to set it up
- Choose ChatGPT Go (€8, about $9£7€8A$13C$13 a month) so voice lasts the working day; Free voice is limited.
- Check that background conversations are on under Settings, Voice, so voice keeps going while you use the camera.
- Start voice and say: 'I'm doing a pre-detail inspection. I'll go panel by panel. Remind me of any panel, wheel or glass I miss.'
- Walk round the car describing each mark while photographing it in your camera app.
- End the call and type: 'Write a condition report by panel.' Check it against your photos and send both to the customer before you start.
What goes wrong
- The photos are the evidence; the report describes them. Photograph every mark, close up and from a distance.
- OpenAI says voice transcripts are not word-for-word records. Check left and right and front and rear against the photos.
- Ask the customer to reply to confirm the report before work starts; a report they never saw is weaker evidence.
- Go and Plus are personal plans: turn off 'Improve the model for everyone' in Data Controls if you don't want your data used for training. Leave out the customer's name and address.