US rental firm Hertz is using AI-powered machines to check vehicles for damages – which may leave travellers with some hefty extra charges
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It’s already changing the way that we use the internet from one week to the next, but could artificial intelligence have its sights set on a new target: your next holiday hire car?
The United States rental behemoth Hertz has confirmed that it is now using AI-powered scanners at six major American airports – including Florida’s Tampa International and New York’s Newark Liberty, as well as airports in Houston, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona – in order to check returned vehicles for even the slightest signs of damage that can be billed to customers.
The company behind the technology, UVeye, says its scanners are five times better at finding damage than the average human eye. That means that tourists and road trippers could soon find themselves facing expensive bills for scratches and scuffs that they and the car rental company might not have noticed otherwise.
When it comes to imposing expensive fines for minor damages, the car rental companies have form. In theory, firms say they don’t charge for “wear and tear”, but, in practice, the line between harmless scuff and billable damage is often hotly contested between companies and their customers.
Now, AI could tip the balance further in the favour of the car rental overlords, by giving them superhuman powers to detect damage that might have gone unnoticed by a human. What’s more, UVeye’s ability to compile an automatic report using date-stamped images could make it much tougher for customers to contest the bill.
AI takes control as soon as customers return the car, as they drive it through a special gate fitted with UVeye scanners. These capture a 360-degree view of the car’s tyres, bodywork and undercarriage. Within seconds, the technology can compare those images with those on file, providing Hertz with “crystal-clear” proof of any changes before you have even left the airport.
Using AI for advanced image processing isn’t particularly new: the technology is already being used in everything from guiding self-driving cars to analysing X-rays. But this could be the first time that many people encounter it in the real world – and feel its impact on their wallet afterwards.
Understandably, the scanners haven’t been without controversy. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported on an American couple who claimed they had been falsely charged $195 (including $115 in processing fees) after a dent was identified on a front door.
Even AI’s greatest advocates admit that the technology isn’t flawless (at least not yet), especially when it comes to image recognition: AI facial recognition systems have occasionally flagged the wrong targets, for example. Though on this particular occasion, Hertz told The New York Times that it had reviewed the case manually and was satisfied there had been no mistake.
Hertz confirmed that its current policy is to check the AI reports manually only once they are contested by a customer. The company says that, of the thousands of vehicles that have already been scanned, 3 per cent showed signs of billable damage.
Of course, one way to avoid getting stung with unexpected charges is to make sure you have the full damage waiver on your car – but that isn’t without its own issues. The consumer champions at Which? have consistently criticised the big car rental companies for selling policies that are pricier and less comprehensive than those you can get directly from insurers.
Given AI’s potential to identify even the slightest scrape, it’s not implausible that this new technology will help persuade many to buy coverage from car rental companies – and could thus end up costing travellers millions.
Right now, Hertz is using the technology at six US airports (including the busiest airport in the US, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson), with plans to roll it out to others before long. Its big rival Avis is also using AI software to analyse potential damage, though it told The New York Times that its policy is to have humans check any findings before bills are sent to customers.
Could these kinds of systems be on their way to the UK? When I contacted UVeye (which has a London office address), a spokesman told me that it couldn’t comment on any specific discussions, but that the company was in touch with “many leading rental and fleet providers”.
For its part, the company says its scanners will help bring “peace of mind” to customers by ensuring they’re not billed for scratches that already existed. (Indeed, a survey by Which? found that, of those customers who had reported being charged by a rental company, 42 per cent insisted that the damage had been there before they picked up the car in the first place.)
In the meantime, travellers renting a car in the US will have an extra reason not just to take care on the roads, but also when navigating those terms and conditions. Particularly given that most car companies charge administration fees on top of any damage costs, which can sometimes double the cost of a minor scratch.
Add in the extra fees and charges that have become routine across the industry (such as the overpriced petrol costs should you forget to return the car with a full tank, or the daily charge for renting a child seat to go with the car) and you can see how car rental can easily become a headache for those travellers who don’t do their homework.
Given that most of these policies have existed for well over a decade, you might wonder how much worse AI can actually make things for the customer. Still, if you had entertained any hopes that this revolutionary technology might make things more customer friendly, you could be waiting a little longer yet.
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