I’m not thrilled with the title. Luckily most of my friends don’t read the posts else they might be concerned that I’m trying to take advantage of them.
The point is that AI can be extremely helpful and today we’ll take a look at some examples.
Artificial Intelligence
I wrote a brief post here. It talks about what AI is and gives some simple examples.
Simply put, computers are really good at performing mind-numbing repetitive tasks. Kind of like an accountant on red bull.
Apologies to the accountants out there…
But think of this…ask a computer to search every article it can find on a particular subject and provide you with the key points. It will take hours, or maybe days, but the computer won’t complain. Try asking a teenager to do it…
There’s an awful lot more to AI, but that’s enough for today’s discussion.
Car Insurance
I have mixed feelings on insurance.
I hate to pay for something I won’t use, but I also know that it is financially responsible to protect myself against catastrophic loss.
Catastrophic means different things to different people.
Back in 2021, my wife was in a minor car collision. The repairs cost $10,000. While this wouldn’t have sent us to the poor house, it is more than we could comfortably handle in our budget.
And the potential is there for much larger bills for a stolen car or a totaled vehicle.
So I grudgingly pay my home, auto, pet and umbrella insurance premiums each year.
This Year
However, this year, I had a bit of a fit on my insurance renewal. I wrote about it here.
The premium on my 2021 BMW 530i was ridiculous. It increased 79% from the prior year. Our 2 other vehicles increased between 8% and 20%.
I was pissed.
I contacted my insurance agent and had her search for cheaper alternatives and I did some shopping on my own at GEICO and progressive. Everyone came in at about the same rate.
And Now
This has been stuck in my craw since July. It’s been simmering on the back burner until yesterday when I got a text from my auto insurer saying that I’m not using their app that tracks my driving.
I hate to be tracked. I install the app for 4 weeks each year after renewal so they can see that I’m a safe driver. My score is 97 out of 100. After 4 weeks I remove the app until my next renewal.
I don’t like someone knowing where I go, how often I visit, how long I stay… I went to a car show last month with Tony. My insurer may say that people who visit car shows tend to drive faster and are higher risk. Don’t put it past them.
And these guys get hacked all the time. Do you want a criminal to know that you’re away from your home for 8 hours every day Monday through Friday? The times are very precise so they can schedule a burglary at their convenience.
Mapfre must have installed a new feature that lets them monitor my use of the app. They never noticed I deleted the app before
I let them know I won’t be participating. But it brought my simmering issue to the front burner.
Grok
My insurance agent responded with some info, but this time I thought I’d see what Grok has to say. I asked Grok why is my 2021 bmw 520 much more expensive to insure than my 2017 bmw x5?
First Grok let me know he made 3 search request and scanned 38 search results.
I don’t know about you, but I rarely get to the 2nd search result, never mind analyzing 12.
And then I get 4 pages of info. Here’s a sample.
Think Harder
I just had to try it to see what happens.
2 minutes later it is still working.
It is scrolling through some insights
- It got a low quote from Lemonade but says it is likely less comprehensive
- It provided some information on the value of the 2 vehicles
- Finally I got some more detailed info, including a request to add specific features on both vehicles to get a deeper look.
It thought for 1m 47s (OK, it wasn’t 2 minutes) and did a deeper web search to find more related info.
1 More
I’m in the middle of having windows replaced in my home so I asked Grok
Here’s what he said
Wrap Up
I spent hours on my own researching both of these topics on the web. I did web searches, skimmed articles…but Grok handled both in a matter of seconds. And he reads the articles more carefully and compares the data and points out discrepancies.
Whether you choose Grok, ChatGPT or whatever your favorite AI engine, it’s easy to get a very comprehensive answer. And all the sources are cited in case we want to dig in further or check the context.
Do I trust it?
Good question. On these 2 examples, sure. It’s some good info to consider. For something more complex, maybe not.
And Grok will give me an opinion. I asked should I go to the gym or the driving range today. He’s thinking.
This came up….interesting
…kinda freaky that Grok remembers my windows request. What else does he know? My handicap? Is he checking out my LinkedIn profile?
Thinking about both Grok’s helpful research and the insurance company’s tracking app. Technology is getting smarter and can make our lives easier, but the trade-off is privacy.
Something to think about, but I’ll continue to use Grok to help streamline my research.