The technology wave sweeping through the roofing trade is not slowing down.
Advances
in service and product ordering, aerial measurement, real-time
communication, logistics and asset tracking are having an impact on the
roofing contractor’s day-to-day business operations in the field.
Roofers are also experiencing significant enhancements to customer
relations, lead generation, and training capabilities through technology
designed to have long-term effects on business growth. In addition to
those, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in business is getting a
lot of attention, and roofing is not immune. Roofers are beginning to
use the technology internally to help with operations, and externally to
attract customers, qualify prospects and market.
To many, that
sounds impressive, particularly in a compressed time window starting
about four years ago. But we’re admittedly a little spoiled here at RC.
“With its vast knowledge and ability to understand and respond to human language, ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach content creation and research.”
As
we can and often do, we turned to industry experts to gauge how these
emerging tools can help or hurt roofing contractors today and into the
future. On the legal side, the first thing contractors need to
understand is what their AI program is capable of and what its intended
purpose is. From there, they need consider what policies need to be in
place in order to implement the program properly. RC Legal
Insights expert Trent Cotney, partner with Adams and Reese, told us that
it’s certainly technology worth investigating, especially when programs
like ChatGPT can act “human-like” while still churning out desired
results in mere seconds.
Both characteristics fill the roofer’s
real need for operational efficiency and intuitive, prompt customer
service. But contractors interested in using it for business purposes
should proceed with caution as the controversies over plagiarism,
content copyright infringement, data protection, bias and other issues
are far from resolved.
“We’ve already had situations where
customer service people or sales people are using it, sometimes very
effectively, but again, the concerns I would want to reflect in any
policy is how is data protected?” Cotney warned in a recent episode of
the RC’s Best of Success Podcast Show.
For marketing
purposes, roofing contractors are just beginning to scrape the surface
of the potential to provide differentiating experiences to consumers
even before first contact. There’s also great power in being able to
harness a product that can adapt to a customer’s needs quickly.
“It’s
very, very interesting and the AI continues to develop and provide more
tailored experiences the smarter it becomes,” said RC columnist Anna Anderson, CEO of Art Unlimited.
Perhaps the best recent demonstration to us at RC
of AI’s arrival in roofing came from our own Editorial Director Rick
Damato who, despite four decades in roofing and multiple retirements, is
about as bold and adventurous as they come when it comes to new
technology.
“As you all know, technology is constantly evolving
and advancing, and ChatGPT is a perfect example of this,” he wrote to
the entire RC staff this spring. “With its vast knowledge and
ability to understand and respond to human language, ChatGPT has the
potential to revolutionize the way we approach content creation and
research.”
The rah-rah stance on AI came with some caution and reassurance that he wasn’t suggesting RC editorial be replaced by non-humans or used to fill space.
As
humans, we have the ability to bring creativity, intuition, and
critical thinking to the table, things that ChatGPT cannot replicate.
Our mission remains to provide roofing contractors with the best news
and information available to help them grow their businesses. At the
same time, Damato was wise to remind us that our job in an evolving
trade is to collaborate with new technologies like ChatGPT. To use it as
a guide and ensure that what it spits out aligns with our editorial
vision and standards.
As he likes to do, Damato tied the email
together succinctly with a hint of optimism about the future. He also
noted in the postscript that his 350-word email essay was entirely AI
generated in minutes by feeding ChatGPT one sentence as he enjoyed his
breakfast.
Surprised and impressed, we then tried it for
ourselves. While there isn’t any copy written by AI in this issue, there
is one piece of content in the July eMagazine that RC editors used AI on to form an outline that served as the foundation. Can you tell which one?
Take a gander at the eMagazine content by registering for free now, and let me know if it stands out by emailing me at aisnera@bnpmedia.com.