ChatGPT in Cars: The End of Touch

Multiple auto makers have brought ChatGPT to their dashboards, but announcements at CES in Las Vegas a week ago left observers wondering whether auto makers are asking the right questions.? With few exceptions, auto-centric ChatGPT announcements appeared to focus on accessing the owner’s manual, which is a far cry from a high frequency application.

Volkswagen’s press event was perhaps the most amusing.? The presenter suggested asking ChatGPT to tell a story about dynosaurs.? This seemed to be missing the point.

The point of ChatGPT-style generative AI solutions is to enable access to relevant data sets linked to a familiar voice recognition front end to convey urgently needed information to drivers – particularly regarding driving circumstances.? Even more important, generative AI solutions have the potential to reduce or eliminate the distraction of screen touching – marking a critical industry turning point.

(This isn’t to suggest that touch screens will go away.? It is merely to suggest that screen touching will be less necessary.)

General Motors was arguably the first car maker to announce its intention to integrate ChatGPT.? Mercedes-Benz was the first to make a beta version available to a limited set of vehicle owners.? Stellantis was the first to market, delivering a ChatGPT-enabled voice recognition interface from SoundHound to millions of cars already on the road in Europe via an over-the-air software update.? Volkswagen made the first formal announcement of its ChatGPT plans at CES with Cerence.

None of these announcements has captured the use case scenario that I have been envisioning for ChatGPT.? The circumstance that tends to make me more crazy than usual is when my BMW embedded navigation offers me a detour from my existing navigation route and asks me to accept the route change.? For me, this is a total “WTF” moment.? How am I supposed to make this decision while I am typically driving 60mph?

With ChatGPT on board, I could ask: “Can you explain my routing options?” or “Why are you recommending a detour?”? Pretty simple stuff – but very useful.

With nasty winter weather returning to my Northern Virginia neighborhood after a two-year hiatus I had lots of questions for a potential ChatGPT driving partner in recent days:? “How safe are the roads?”? “What is the safest route?”

Traffic data expert Inrix has taken on this challenge offering a generative AI solution for municipal planners and traffic executives.? Called “Compass,” the Inrix solution is designed to tap into the company’s “50 petabytes” of transportation data collected over the past 20 years – from a wide range of sources including connected vehicles, trucks, mobile devices, incident and weather reports, traffic cameras, smart infrastructure, events, and more, the company says.

The questions that Inrix is focusing on include:

“What is the best way to reduce traffic on this road during rush hour?”

“Which are the most dangerous intersections?”

“Why is this intersection so dangerous?”

“How can I make this intersection safer?”

“What will happen to congestion if I add a bike lane?”

Inrix sees Compass as a tool for identifying problems, finding solutions, and discovering causes or anticipating alternatives.? These are precisely the challenges facing drivers.

ChatGPT could become the ultimate wingman (or wing-entity) for overcoming anxiety while driving.? Why is this road backed up?? Are there alternative routes?? What is the best time to drive from point A to point B – i.e. when will the drive time be the shortest?

The best embedded navigation and infotainment systems are designed to reduce driver stress.? If ChatGPT-style generative AI solutions – with familiar voice recognition front ends – can better explain the driving context, drivers will be better able to relax.

Most important of all, a voice-based solution will obviate the need to pay attention to the infotainment screen for traffic messages or on-map icons or construction or car crashes.? I know BMW is trying to be helpful with color coding, 3-D building animations, construction icons, and the like, but that’s just adding to the distraction.?

Ironically, BMW was one of the last car makers to adopt touch screens – preferring that drivers use the i-drive hardware controller.? BMW is now one of the worst offenders when it comes to encouraging screen touching.? The obvious corollary to touching the screen is taking your eyes off the road.

To be successful, ChatGPT-style generative AI solutions need to be infused with the right data – such as Inrix’s petabytes – enabled by natural language understanding (NLU) voice interfaces – and tuned to driving applications.? That’s a solution capable of saving time, money, lives, and aggravation. ?And it also means a lot less screen touching.