The week after my washing machine incident, my car decided to join the fun. The dashboard lit up with that familiar orange glow—Check Engine. I used to dread that light. It’s vague, unhelpful, and almost designed to trigger anxiety. But now, armed with my new AI-assisted curiosity, I saw it as an invitation.

I grabbed my diagnostic reader—the OBD Type 2 gizmo that plugs into the port under the dash—and let it do its thing. Moments later, it rewarded me with a fine string of nonsense: E322104B. I might as well have been reading Sanskrit. But I knew what to do. I copied it into ChatGPT.

Seconds later, the answer appeared: an oxygen sensor issue. Apparently, my car, a Ford Mustang, was suffering from the infamous O2 sensor malfunction. ChatGPT broke it down further—where the sensor was located, what it measured, how it typically failed, and what symptoms I might notice. It even suggested the range of repair costs and the level of urgency if I kept driving.

The most interesting part wasn’t the fix itself—it was the clarity. For years, the barrier between the average driver and their car’s internal world has been hidden behind layers of jargon. Mechanics, diagnostic tools, and manufacturer codes created a language that most people couldn’t read. Now, with an AI translator, that wall is starting to crumble.

I didn’t suddenly become a mechanic, but I became an informed participant. I could talk to the service shop in their own language, verify what I was told, and make decisions confidently. That’s a quiet kind of empowerment that sneaks up on you—the difference between feeling powerless and feeling capable.

It reminded me of how humans once learned to interpret animal tracks, weather signs, or the behavior of tools. We’re pattern-readers by nature. What AI is doing now is letting us extend that instinct into the digital and mechanical realms.

When I joked later that I felt like Dr. Doolittle, it wasn’t far off. I wasn’t talking to animals—but to machines. And they were finally talking back in a language I could understand.

This, I think, is the quiet revolution happening beneath all the AI headlines. It’s not just automation or code generation. It’s translation. It’s communication. It’s closing the gap between what we use and how we understand it.

The next time your car flashes that orange warning, think of it less as a threat and more as an opening. Somewhere in that blinking light is a story waiting to be told. And now, we finally have a way to hear it.

Jorge Luis de la Torre. I put the C in GRC. I bring compliance to the table.