While watching this year’s Super Bowl, I realized I did not know one Taylor Swift song.

No problem. I’ll look her up the next time I’m at the library.

It seems absurd how we got information less than 20 years ago. Today, type “Taylor Swift songs” into a search engine and you’ll get pages of lists, videos, Wikis, fan sites, and dozens of places to buy Swifty merch and music.

Ask the internet a question and you’ll get more answers than you can handle.

And that’s a thing. It takes time for the mind to sort through reams of information, determine what’s credible, and pull out just what you need.

Think about how that applies to your trucking life.

Routing guides, safety records, operating costs, each truck, trailer, driver, dispatcher, technician…they all generate performance data you can measure if only you can capture and make sense of it.

Which is why artificial intelligence (AI) will change our lives even more than the internet.

Recently, I was invited to NEXT Canada, a world-class development acceleration network for AI startups.

My biggest takeaway? I’m way behind the machine-learning 8-ball. Here’s what I’m doing to get caught up:

What does AI do?

If the internet is an information-sharing platform, AI takes information and looks for patterns it can use to predict future outcomes or create something entirely new. When it’s fed a steady diet of high-quality data, and lots of it, the better the results will be.

No doubt you’ve seen this already.

AI-powered virtual assistants provide 24/7 customer support, resolving issues without human intervention. Your credit card company uses AI to assess your spending habits and detect potential fraud. I figure my search for “Taylor Swift” is going to upend my playlist suggestions for a long time to come.

In trucking, AI can reduce the time it takes to complete tasks and eliminate human errors. It can help companies cut costs and adjust rates based on forecasts in demand and the availability of trucks and drivers.

In the end, AI is just software. It reasons inputs to explain outputs, which is to say that it’s only as good as the data at hand. Knowing that quickly took away my fear of the unknown.

Getting comfortable

If you want to reduce the risk of AI disrupting your trucking business, you need to get comfortable with what it can do.

At a basic level, I took a leap of faith and downloaded the free version of ChatGTP for my iPhone.

ChatGTP is one of many AI-powered chatbots that, with the right prompts, can streamline your work. I’m using it to summarize data, develop marketing ideas, and compose social media posts. I also plan on using it to edit and proofread a book I’m writing.

You still need good ideas, and it’s no substitute for experience. But ChatGTP and other AI apps can help you get organized, do your research, and start creating.

Implementing AI

As you look across your business, take an audit of where efficiency and automation would make a difference. Chances are, no part of your company would be untouched.

It’s safe to assume that AI will handle every mundane and repeatable administrative task in the future. Same with most knowledge-based jobs that require number-crunching and analysis. Your admin, safety, customer service, and accounting departments will look nothing like they do today.

It won’t be easy getting employees excited about technology that works faster, doesn’t make mistakes, and one day might take their jobs. But in the near term, many will be happy to have a computer handle routine work.

The silver lining is that hiring quality people is already next to impossible. AI is going to help fill a lot more jobs than it’s going to eliminate. And who knows what new jobs will crop up because of AI?

Ironically, truck drivers — the job automation was expected to eliminate first — might be the last ones to go.

Sales transformation

It’s early, but at our business, my gut tells me our first AI implementation will be in sales.

With so much unstructured data coming from emails, texts, and phone calls, sales is perfectly suited for AI. And it’s one area where implementation errors won’t impact the customer experience.

There are lots of AI apps to supercharge your sales efforts, like Quantified, Crayon, and 6sense. My personal favourite is Trender. Automating the sourcing and vetting of qualified leads is too delicious for this sales crooner to pass up.

Speaking of too good to pass up, NEXT Canada invited me to mentor some of their young, aspiring AI entrepreneurs. To prepare, I’m having a great time using AI to learn more about AI.

Just in case, though, I did go to the library and borrowed a ChatGTP For Dummies book. Old habits die hard.