A phrase that pops up a lot these days is ‘the software-defined car’, or ‘software-defined vehicle’. On the face of it, that sounds like manufacturers embracing the idea of enabling functions like heated seats in return for extra cash from the buyer, something that’s been the subject of debate recently. But it’s not all about that.
The idea is that generative AI will allow occupants to talk to the car in natural speech, without having to formulate clunky phrases or conform to a particular vocabulary. The recognition and processing are done in the cloud, drawing on the immense power of Google’s computers rather than that stored on a puny in-car processor. One of the key differences between this and what’s gone before is the way the driver can communicate with the car.