This is wild! We were using Fable 5 like crazy. It wasn't giving us anything more than we were getting from Sonnet or Opus, but it was giving us results more quickly... at the cost of more tokens.

Of course, we're just building software for the car business.

US govt shutting down Claude Fable to all is proof that:

1. The US Govt has seen Mythos.
2. They know that Fable is the stepping stone to Mythos (AGI)
3. Trump strong arming Anthropic, The US Govt wants Mythos to itself.
4. Mythos (& all AGI) represents an existential threat to the SOTU and world order as we know it.
5. Proof? Anthropic provided the top financial institutions time to prepare for a Mythos release (google Project Glasswing)

Not an original idea but damn do i miss going to drivingSales and seeing who's in the game when I need ___________ or someone visits NADA or Digital Dealer and now we need ALL NEW ____________.

It was nice to be able to pump the brakes, find a handful of options, short list a pack of demos and get a feel before calling or really knowing much of anything except for a bit of reputation.

Carsten said:

@Rob we are likely helping those chat bots train based on our engagement with them.

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Maybe we should just start replying with inappropriate emoji

MattCopley said:

Happy to catch up anytime but it should be fairly easy to get Claude (or similar) to monitor the forums and look at profiles that typically add value to the context of a conversation… send an alert to get them engaged etc. likely some fine tuning work but should be fairly low lift.

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Ah. I gotcha now.

My personal challenge has always been: if you build it with AI, how can you build it so that it doesn't need AI to exist later?

We have a few small features that cannot live without AI now (Thread summaries and Weekly summation on the home page), but this one is going to give me a challenge to see if it can live without AI... if it weren't Friday night, I'd have a better thought on this front.

MattCopley said:

would be good to build in some additional “core brain” alerts for users that are contributing to the forums on where they can add value.

Ok I’ll stop now and go back to the kids table … also emojis no longer render in content

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Give me some more on this "core brain" idea. I think I get what you're saying, but I can take a little more detail.

I noticed the emojis aren't playing as nicely as they did before. They're also looking a little dated. I have some big AWS work coming. Hoping that will help a little.

Also, considering modernizing the emoji.

Alexander.R said:

No, I say please and thank you and gently guide it a proper solution. You won't find me on the Skynet list

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although, in this case, I think the emoji should say "I'm with the smart one."

LOL thats a loaded assed question and a post I hope your tech's never have to know about...

If you have DIVA techs that are super frustrated that's wholly a reflection of leadership, relationships and systems.

If techs are with advisors in a system that sells and is organized and tight, and there's relationships that everyone has each others backs INCLUDING having the stores back, then there are no diva's.

If you have a frustrated team, install more software and watch them get even more frustrated.

Only when this is happening, like at this second

Alexander.R said:

Thank you Alex! Both your comment and Mitch's helped drive this iteration of improvements so thank you for the feedback.

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Agreed, its getting better.

I think the content is still a touch off the mark. It feels like a tv ad instead of a used car value punch up. Too slick instead of punching the facts that add value and then punching out guest experience tips and hand holds telling the customer what's up and what happens when they choose next steps.

There are 2 threads to weave that i think would add value:
1) USED CAR BUYER THREAD.., as a customer, what do i care about. What do I ACTUALLY care about as someone buying this unique one of one used car. Does this video answer that and help this 1 stand out against its rivals in the market today.
2) If im a USED CAR DEALER, what am i trying to build value in? Where this video is distributed does it speak to the audience where they are and is it using that context to elevate the value and really punch what matters in that moment.

A video shown on a screen in the lounge, a video on our website vdp, a video sent as a sales rep to a customer, a video on a 3rd party marketplace all speak to an audience in a place in time on a step of a journey... does this meaningfully move the guest closer to buying from us.

Alex Snyder said:

My CTO (our old buddy Jack) likes to call it a "drolling moron" when it repeats the same mistakes.

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That's perfect. (and that's Jack!)

Nice work Alex and Jeff - Hit me up ... I have an idea.

I'd love if my website would give the options to view window sticker.

One of the most common questions we get on an e-ldea is "please send the window sticker".

tomkline said:

Thanks. I do not remember the exact interaction with the FTC. At that time, what you stated that I said would have been the regulations/guidance at that time. Now things have changed.

Here is an article about what I am seeing and hearing: Auto Dealer FTC Compliance - Better Vantage Point

Hope that answers your question.

If not, let me know and I will be happy to address it.

Here are two (2) other FTC articles which I've written: FTC Compliance for Auto Dealerships - Better Vantage Point

New FTC Compliance Regulations: Small Dealers Are Targets, Too - Better Vantage Point & Tuck the Octopus

Auto Dealership Compliance In Today’s Regulatory Environment Can we [...]

bettervantagepoint.com

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I guess you really didn't answer any of my questions. I am not trying to put you on the spot here (although it may seem as if I am).

I want to know what your opinions are. I understand in your profession you don't really get paid for your opinion. That doesn't mean you don't have opinions. You know more about this than anyone I know.

So my question @tomkline , what do you tell your dealers when they argue with you about why they want to ignore the rules? Do you believe the enforcement of the rules is a net positive for the consumer? Do you feel this is needed or warranted enforcement? Do you think us dealers went too far? I value your opinion more than you likely understand. I want to know what your feelings are about this, not your interpretation of the enforcement.

My CTO (our old buddy Jack) likes to call it a "drolling moron" when it repeats the same mistakes.

tomkline said:

Alex, one dealer in Alaska got in trouble because a state regulator came in to buy a car for an advertised price (for himself and not in his official capacity.) When he arrived, the sales agent said to him (and I am paraphrasing), "We don't actually sell the vehicles for those prices. Those are just meant to get people in here."

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I have experienced this myself as a customer. "That's the internet department, we do things differently here on the floor"

joe.pistell said:

If you've ever driven an EV for a few weeks, ICE seems soooo last century.. (kinda like me! hahaha )

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Didn't you and Todd visit DDC Burlington in a Leaf or something god-awful like that way back when? I remember the debate about taking the ferry...

I thought Cox's incentives product was not that cost prohibitive? Has that changed?

I'm working on a new platform and I'm using AI to suggest questions based on a variety of factors (personas, vehicle attributes, then year/make/model/trim combination). This approach is yielding good results so far and it scales well. I'll post more on it soon.

Carvana does this well, and they tie it into their photos. From a merchandising standpoint they're probably the best in the game right now.

CarsonWhite said:

I hate to shameless plug here @darrenstromain & @CarlAutofusion, but we are doing this today with our clients.

@CarlAutofusion - here's a commercial example. (click on the "Specs" tab to see the breakdown shine.)

@darrenstromain - here's typical example.

Scroll past the carousel. You'll see where we start. All of it is injected into the pages HTML for SEO purposes

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The commercial example does a good job showing the Ford factory options + MSRP, which is great but it doesn't include information on the Rugby Dump Body Upfit such as the dimensions, features (I see it has a metering gate), etc. This dump body upfit is likely a significant portion of the total price so it would be good to merchandise it.

Darius1234 said:

Thank you, you can zoom in. I guess it works better on Android.

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Yes, you can pinch and zoom on iPhone also, but you're zooming on a 100k (100,000 bytes) photo, which is small today's standards. A thumbnail looks ok at 100k or less, but final images need to be 1/4 megabyte (250K) at least IMHO.

Brian Michael West said:

photographers name is Ethan and he does stellar work!

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ooo... very nice
View attachment 8827

flosho said:

Of all the things dealerships spend superfluous monies on, hiring someone that cares and wants to take pride in their photos and put the best product forward seems like a fair return on investment.

No photobooth needed. In fact, overcast skies or even the right photography equipment in the sun, can make quality photos and many times way better than any dealership's photobooth shoot.

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Brilliant.
#BootsOnTheGround