The rise of AI has been gaining momentum since OpenAI’s ChatGPT wowed the world last year. ChatGPT provides human-like answers to random questions. As a result, nearly every company in the world has announced some type of strategy that leverages artificial intelligence.
Quoted from Inside EV, more advanced voice assistants, built on large language models underlying generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, are starting to make their way into cars.
TomTom has announced a new voice assistant powered by OpenAI technology, which it hopes to sell to car companies.
ChatGPT has proven more useful than predecessors like Alexa and Siri, and now the same technological leap is coming to cars.
TomTom has partnered with Microsoft, OpenAI’s main investor, to develop a product that can be integrated into car infotainment systems.
This product allows drivers to communicate naturally with their vehicles and use AI-powered assistants to navigate to specific locations, find stops along their route, and control in-car systems via voice, such as setting the temperature, opening windows, or changing stations radio.
Many cars already have voice assistants that can understand simple commands such as ‘I’m cold’ or ‘tell me a joke’.
However, even the most advanced systems in the auto industry have limitations and often misunderstand drivers.
If voice assistants can understand more commands and execute them accurately, driving could become more comfortable and reduce the need for annoying touch screens.
In June, Mercedes-Benz struck a deal with Microsoft to integrate ChatGPT into its cars.
This will allow drivers to ask complex questions and have conversations with their car. General Motors is also reportedly considering this possibility.
It’s likely that Tesla will soon have AI chatbot capabilities as well. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, founded an AI company called xAI which recently launched a sarcastic chatbot called Grok.