A digital car butler, next in line for Automobiles and AI

We have witnessed amazing innovations in automotive industry, but this new revelation might shock you. Your next car might be able to read your mind, offering suggestions of where to head, how to head there, even what to do in order to reach your destination.


Why is it important?
The bond between Artificial Intelligence and machine learning has been growing ever since and making vehicles safer, smarter, and easy to operate, but there has always been a debate about who is in control? Man or Machine? Well, with this new revelation, we can say that that the relationship between man and machine is on the verge of a major transformation where man is in control and machine serves the man.

The hot news:
Cerence, a pioneer in vehicle voice recognition, will be showing off a State-of-the-art, AI-powered driving companion also referred to as a car butler, this week at CES, the big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

• Cerence announced its new Cerence co-pilot in December 2021, which is designed to anticipate the needs of the driver through AI and continuous learning.
• The concept is that instead of the drivers using the traditional wake-up words like, “Hey Alexa” or “Hey Mercedes”, Co-Pilot proactively offers to perform the actions before the arousal of a need for the driver.

So how does it work?
The AI system is integrated with the car’s sensors and the data car collects. This date is then used by the AI system to understand what is going on the inside as well as around the vehicle.

• Acting as the central brain of the vehicle, the tech analyzes the input from a combination of voice, gaze, gestures, and touch controls. Along with the driver preferences and real-time sensor data to anticipate the needs/demands of the driver and keep them informed.

To explain the concept, the co-pilot system can suggest ordering and paying for a cup of coffee, when the driver is a mile away from their favorite coffee shop, or suggest to shop the weekly groceries at weekends when passing by their favorite grocery store.

What it can do?

• It can identify any maintenance issue as well as offer to set up an appointment to get the vehicle serviced to fix it.
• Knowing that a drives has a long journey to travel tomorrow morning, it will suggest stopping for refueling today with respect to tomorrow’s journey, even if the low fuel light sign is not on.
• Co-Pilot can offer real-time information such as weather updates, warnings, and offer to put the car in the appropriate mode for driving with respect to the real-time situation.
• As annoying as it may sound, Co-Pilot can also act as a backseat driver pointing out that stop sign you missed or even going beyond or below the speed limit.

However, the control of the notifications and interruptions is in the hands of the driver. On top of that, the system itself will learn and anticipate when you don’t want to be bugged or when to step in and guide the driver, as claimed by the Cerence CTO Prateek Kathpal to Axios.

How will it compete with other AI systems in the market?
There are several AI systems in the market such as Alexa, SIRI, Bixby, as well as AI systems of top vehicle brands such as Mercedes, BMW, and Ford etc. The unique selling point of Co-Pilot is that it operates on its own learning through data retrieved by the Car’s system as well as gives the control in the hands of the driver of where and when to step in which is distinctive as compared to traditional AI systems. This makes Cerence Co-Pilot raise the bar of mobility for everyone.

What’s next?
Cerence claims that this technology will debut this month on two unnamed automobile models. The company will be showing off and delivering the idea of a car butler at CES this week, where several smart car ideas await you.

(Source: www.axios.com)