VW vehicles to converse with drivers via ChatGPT by mid-year

Volkswagen has unveiled its first vehicles equipped with ChatGPT, an AI technology that can respond to a variety of commands, at the CES electronics trade fair. The technology, which will be available in North America and Europe from the second quarter of this year, allows customers to adjust functionalities in their vehicle using voice commands. The AI can perform tasks such as raising the temperature when it hears "I'm feeling cold" or showing the nearest Indian restaurant upon hearing "I want butter chicken". The technology was developed in partnership with Cerence.

The carmaker plans to integrate the voice assistant into its cars for back-and-forth dialogues with users by mid-year. Volkswagen is the first volume manufacturer to make this technology a standard feature in its compact segment cars. Other automakers, including General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, are also exploring similar AI technologies. Critics argue that while this is a step forward, it falls short of the AI advancements expected a few years ago, particularly in fully autonomous vehicles.

Key takeaways

Volkswagen has introduced its first vehicles featuring ChatGPT, an AI that can recognise and respond to a range of demands, such as adjusting the temperature or finding the nearest restaurant.
The technology will be available for customers in North America and Europe from early in the second quarter of this year.
Volkswagen is the first volume manufacturer to make this technology a standard feature in its compact segment cars.
Critics argue that the addition of generative AI in vehicles is still far behind the AI leap that was expected a few years ago, especially with fully autonomous vehicles.

VW vehicles to converse with drivers via ChatGPT by mid-year

Key takeaways

Discussion (0)