At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Volkswagen announced it will begin incorporating the ChatGPT chatbot into its vehicles starting in the second quarter of 2024. Although the company isn’t specifying which countries will be the first to see the tech, we know it won’t be stateside; VW says ChatGPT is only being “considered” for the U.S. for now.
In partnership with artificial intelligence specialist Cerence, VW will launch ChatGPT in vehicles with its latest infotainment tech: the ID family of electric vehicles, as well as the Passat, Tiguan and Golf. Volkswagens already feature speech recognition to control some secondary functions. The company says the integration will be seamless to vehicle owners, who will still interact with the vehicle in the same manner as they currently do. In other countries, that’s by pressing a button on the steering wheel or by saying “Hello IDA,” VW’s name for its voice assistant. (In the U.S., the command is “Hello Volkswagen.”)
VW says its native voice assistant will still handle requests that fall within its wheelhouse, such as controlling navigation or a connected phone. The company says that if the request can’t be answered by the system, it’s “forwarded anonymously to AI.” This is expected to allow a range of additional capabilities, from adjusting climate controls to answering what VW calls “general-knowledge questions,” so you’ll no longer have to spend your commute agonizing over which episode of “The X-Files” the Fox network never rebroadcasts. (We’re not telling you; ask AI.)
To assuage data-security concerns, VW says ChatGPT doesn’t gain access to vehicle data, adding that “questions and answers are deleted immediately to ensure the highest possible level of data protection.” Given the hype surrounding “smart” anything right now, it seems safe to assume this news will trigger a cascade of similar announcements from other automakers.
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