The Kia EV3 — the brand new all-electric compact SUV revealed Thursday — illustrates a rising urge for food amongst international automakers to deliver generative AI into their autos.
The automaker mentioned the Kia EV3 will characteristic a brand new voice assistant that’s constructed off ChatGPT, the text-generating AI chatbot developed by OpenAI. The Kia EV3, and its AI assistant, will first come to market in Korea in July 2024, adopted by Europe within the second half of the yr. Kia expects to develop gross sales of the Kia EV3 into different areas following the European launch. The Kia EV3 will finally come to the United States, though the automaker didn’t present a date.
This isn’t, nonetheless, a pure OpenAI affair. Kia had its arms within the growth of the voice assistant too.
Pablo Martinez, Kia’s head of buyer expertise design, defined that whereas the big language mannequin (LLM) behind the AI assistant is ChatGPT from OpenAI, it has been “heavily modified” and customised by the automaker. These modifications have been made to permit clients to plan journeys, management the automobile and discover leisure, together with music or video games, all by the brand new Kia assistant, Martinez mentioned throughout a media briefing forward of the reveal.
Voice assistants in autos aren’t new. But the expertise for drivers ranges between ineffective to omg-why-am-I-screaming at my automotive. Automakers like BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have argued that generative AI will make voice assistants much more succesful and provides them the flexibility to interact with drivers and passengers in a pure conversational approach.
Chatter about making use of generative AI to autos ramped up final yr as the subject — and startup OpenAI — hit the hype stratosphere. Mercedes-Benz added the conversational AI-bot to its MBUX infotainment system in June 2023. By January, automakers BMW and Volkswagen have been showcasing the know-how on the CES tech commerce present in Las Vegas.
The so-called Kia Assistant first debuted in April within the Kia K4, the brand new gas-powered compact sedan coming to market this summer season. The Kia EV3 is the primary all-electric automobile within the firm’s portfolio to get the brand new AI-based assistant.
