Using AI to Elevate Your Current Employees—Not Replace Them
By Mark Fuerbacher | President, Universal Imports
As Seen in Used Car Dealer Magazine | September 2026
“Hey Chat, write me a 1,000-word article about the use of AI in the automotive industry.”
There. Done.
In about the time it takes you to refill your coffee, AI can spit out 1,000 words about artificial intelligence and the automotive industry. It will probably be grammatically correct, have an introduction, some bullet points, a respectable conclusion, and use words like “transformative,” “efficiency,” and “customer experience.” And it will probably be completely forgettable.
This is where I believe most people are getting AI wrong. We’ve been handed one of the most powerful business technologies of our lifetime, and too many dealers immediately see dollar signs in reducing payroll. I think they’re missing the bigger opportunity. Instead of asking, “Who can AI replace?” we should be asking, “What could my existing people accomplish if AI made every one of them better, faster, and more capable?”
There’s nothing wrong with using AI for basics and to make light work, I do it too. But if that’s where your use of AI begins and ends, you’re barely scratching the surface of what it can do.
The real power of AI isn’t getting it to write something for you. The real power comes when AI understands who you are, what you do, how your business operates, what you’re trying to accomplish, and what information matters to the decision you’re making.
In a minute, I’m going to share how I’ve been using AI and the new kick I’m on: how to use AI without it looking like you’re using AI. But first, I want to wrap up this section with three words: memory, context, and direction. These are the building blocks for getting successful outcomes from AI.
Memory is about giving your AI a background. Whether you use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another model, the more it knows about you, the more useful it becomes.
A great place to start is by asking your AI to interview you. Give it 45 minutes to learn about your business, your role, your interests, your family, your goals, and anything else that matters. Let it ask follow-up questions.
Think about how much someone could learn about you in a good 45-minute conversation. That background gives your AI a much better understanding of who you are and where you’re coming from—and that can dramatically change the quality of the answers you get.
Context is about keeping your AI organized. Think of projects like a digital file cabinet. Give each project a simple name—or even a nickname you’ll remember—and keep your related chats, documents, PDFs, images, URLs, and other information there. For example, create an “HR” project and load it with the information relevant to your employees and policies. You can even tell your AI, “Every time I start a prompt with ‘HR,’ pull from this project.” Now you can simply say, “HR and AI knows which file drawer to open and what information to work from.
Direction is really another word for prompting. Your prompts should be specific and deliberate. The more clearly you explain what you want, why you want it, and what a successful outcome looks like, the better the result will be. Don’t know how to write a great prompt? Ask AI. Tell it to train you on prompting, critique the prompts you’re already using, and show you how to make them better. Sometimes the best prompt is simply asking AI to help you build the right prompt.
Okay, I’m sure you’re biting your nails wondering how I use AI without looking like I use AI, but one last thing—and it may be just as important as memory, context, and direction: changeyour settings, for crying out loud.
Ever wonder why a new AI model seems to praise every stupid idea you throw at it? Check your settings. Most models give you some ability to control how agreeable, direct, or conversational you want your AI to be. Use it.
Then go a step further. Use the customization or instruction settings to define the relationship you want with your AI. Give it a name if that makes it feel more natural. Give it a personality. Tell it when to challenge you, when to push back, and when to argue the opposite side of an idea.
I tell mine to act more like a true friend. And what does a true friend do? A true friend doesn’t tell you every idea is brilliant. A true friend tells you the truth, challenges you when you need it, and sometimes says, “Nope. That’s a terrible idea.”
Shoot, sometimes I think my AI hates me. I’ve got it dialed in to push me so hard that some days it feels like it doesn’t agree with anything I say. But that’s exactly the point. I don’t need another voice telling me every idea I have is great. I need one that challenges my thinking—and, more often than not, that’s where my best results come from.
So how do I use AI without looking like I use AI? I recently officiated my son’s wedding, and AI was everywhere behind the scenes. I used it for research, scripting, and even the unscripted parts. But when it came time to perform, it sounded like me—not me reading something AI wrote. I wrote from my heart and let AI tighten it up. I wrote jokes, and my AI buddy told me most of them sucked. After enough pushback, I finally came up with jokes that had the place roaring.
Not one person asked if I used AI—and everyone knows AI is my thing. I received incredible praise for that ceremony. But I also put in a ton of work. AI didn’t replace that work; it supercharged it.
There are countless AI tools that can help your dealership, but before chasing the next shiny software, master your preferred AI model. I still use ChatGPT to develop prompts for almost every other AI tool I use.
And that, my friend, is where the magic happens.
