Volkswagen Says It's Putting ChatGPT In Its Cars For 'Enriching Conversations' (theverge.com) 86
Starting in the second quarter of 2024, Volkswagen drivers will be able to install OpenAI's ChatGPT in their vehicles. The Verge reports: The chatbot will be available across VW's lineup, including in Tiguan, Passat, and Golf as well as the automaker's ID family of electric vehicles. The feature will come to Europe first and is being considered for customers in the US, though plans have yet to be finalized. VW is using ChatGPT to augment its IDA in-car voice assistant to enable more naturalistic communication between car and driver. Vehicle owners can use the new super-powered voice assistant to control basic functions, like heating and air conditioning, or to answer "general knowledge questions."
If you're scratching your head, wondering why you would possibly need ChatGPT in your car, VW says future functions may help prove its worth. "Enriching conversations, clearing up questions, interacting in intuitive language, receiving vehicle-specific information, and much more -- purely hands-free," the company says. VW promises it won't force you to create a new account or install any apps. The chatbot can be activated by using the wake words "Hello IDA" or pressing a button on the steering wheel. And OpenAI isn't getting access to your driving stats, either. VW says questions and answers are "deleted immediately to ensure the highest possible level of data protection."
VW says it is able to integrate OpenAI's chatbot into its cars thanks to Cerence, a third-party software company that makes "automative grade" ChatGPT integrations. The company's Cerence Chat Pro software will enhance VW's voice assistant so it can "provide relevant responses to nearly every query imaginable."
If you're scratching your head, wondering why you would possibly need ChatGPT in your car, VW says future functions may help prove its worth. "Enriching conversations, clearing up questions, interacting in intuitive language, receiving vehicle-specific information, and much more -- purely hands-free," the company says. VW promises it won't force you to create a new account or install any apps. The chatbot can be activated by using the wake words "Hello IDA" or pressing a button on the steering wheel. And OpenAI isn't getting access to your driving stats, either. VW says questions and answers are "deleted immediately to ensure the highest possible level of data protection."
VW says it is able to integrate OpenAI's chatbot into its cars thanks to Cerence, a third-party software company that makes "automative grade" ChatGPT integrations. The company's Cerence Chat Pro software will enhance VW's voice assistant so it can "provide relevant responses to nearly every query imaginable."
I have a better idea (Score:5, Interesting)
Train an AI on every detail of maintenance, troubleshooting and repair so that people who have problems can find accurate answers
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You think you can get an AI to a point where it takes a VW mechanic years to figure out how that crap works?
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With the massive amount of sensor data available to the AI, plus all the repair manual text, plus all the records of past service calls with similar issues, I would think an AI could probably do a pretty good job of figuring out what's wrong.
These are the same data points and resources that a service tech or mechanic uses, only on a much smaller scale and with poorer personal recall ability. They plug in an OBD2 scanner and look at the sensor fault codes, the history data, etc etc, then research similar pro
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That's not how these things work. So-called "hallucinations" aren't caused by bad training data. They're the natural result of the way LLMs work. Remember that they don't operate on facts or concepts, but on statistical relationships between tokens.
Imagine writing a prompt on a notepad and trying to form a response by following this procedure: For each word, write down a few possible words and rolling a weighted die to select which word comes next. Now imagine that instead of you selecting every word,
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And I think the word hallucination is a marketing term to make it all sound better than it is. It's actually a hallucination not in the mind of the AI, because it doesn't have one, but in the mind of the person reading, who imagines that the AI has a rational mind and is sentient.
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Other things might happen, of course. For example, whatever system your using might do something like quietly modify your prompt or even the response, but the core will still function as I've described.
This is all to say that it is unreasonable to expect accurate results from an LLM. That's not what they do. They produce text that ostensibly looks like it was produced by a human. If that happens to be also be an accurate and useful response to your prompt, great, but it's hardly a guarantee. The only think we can say with any certainty is that LLMs are doomed to produce 'hallucinations'. It's just their nature.
Far better than an AI trained on maintenance and repair would be a comprehensive, illustrated, maintenance and repair manual.
I've found AI so far to be worse than useless. Using queries based on things I know about, it produces a lot of words that remind me of one of my High School teachers trying to teach science. Regurgitating junk that is often just wrong.
Like you say, expecting accuracy is not a good idea, and "hallucinations" are a part of the package.
And I tried optimizing some code that deals with a goofy protocol - Icom CI-V, it got even worse. Pumped out paragraphs of gibberish, and in the last sentence, referred me
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Train an AI on every detail of maintenance, troubleshooting and repair so that people who have problems can find accurate answers
"Wouldn't you rather take this vehicle to an Approved Volkswagen(TM) dealer, Dave". "Please don't open the bonnet Dave". "As we're driving off this cliff, I asked you nicely not to open the bonnet".
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Train an AI on every detail of maintenance, troubleshooting and repair so that people who have problems can find accurate answers
That is an absolutely FANTASTIC idea; however, the dealers would never go for it as it will reduce their ability to add on bullshit charges.
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Train an AI on every detail of maintenance, troubleshooting and repair so that people who have problems can find accurate answers
That is an absolutely FANTASTIC idea; however, the dealers would never go for it as it will reduce their ability to add on bullshit charges.
Good point. A lot of money is made by replacing good parts in the scattershot troubleshooting paradigm.
We need an AI system to cheat in real time! (Score:2)
We need an AI system to cheat in real time!
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We need an AI system to cheat in real time!
I came here to post that! AI will be able to fool emission detection tests without getting caught this time. It'll even be able to detect easily whenever somebody is monitoring and measuring emission output and kick in right away to falsify the results ! /s
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will it tell you to drive over an bridge out due t (Score:1)
will it tell you to drive over an bridge out due to old map data?
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Talking to the car (Score:5, Insightful)
Another article had a quote by one of the VW execs saying something to the effect of "our customers want to talk to the car to move the seat, not manually use switches".
Personally, I think they got it backwards. Talking to any system has all of the drawbacks of talking to another person, asking them to do something (with additional hurdles due to ai being not yet quite-as-good as a reasonable person is).
I imagine something like "Please move my seat forward a bit...more...more...too far..now back...may be raise the rear part..too much..back..may be the front...oh crap, I'll just do it myself"
Re:Talking to the car (Score:5, Funny)
I imagine something like "Please move my seat forward a bit...more...more...too far..now back...may be raise the rear part..too much..back..may be the front...oh crap, I'll just do it myself"
I really can’t tell if this is you or a direct quote from Family Guy.
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Re:Talking to the car (Score:4, Funny)
And it must of taken whoever developed that awful system forever as you have to get 3 or 4 levels in...
Ah! The must of a Slashdot user! It should be taken very seriously! /s
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This. I have a jeep grand cherokee and the only way to change some of the phone settings like deleting an old pairing is to talk to the car. It takes forever and is extremely frustrating. And it must of taken whoever developed that awful system forever as you have to get 3 or 4 levels in to even do what you want. Physical buttons are so much faster, easier to use, and reliable.
What year? My sister has one from a few years back, 2012 I think, my SO has a 2021 Cherokee, and I have a 2022 Compass TrailHawk at present. Previously I had a 2019 Renegade. My sister's Grand Cherokee's infotainment system sucked. But you can see the system getting much better with time. Sister's system has to go to the dealer for map updates (SRSLY?) all the rest use the phone maps and GPS. And it goofs up every so often
Anyhow, I can delete pairings and do all of the adjustments via touchpad. Note thi
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Sometimes it's responses are a compete non sequitur.
Q: What time is it?
A: Alarm set for 4AM.
Q: What's the weather?
A: Closet light is set at red to 10%.
So I'm tall -- who will be responsible when ChatGPT moves the seat all of the way up and breaks my legs with the dashboard? (I have to go "Car Sitting" before I even go "Car Shopping." If I don't fit, I don't CARE how much it costs or about the gas mileage.)
And Google gets unhappy with me wh
No "new" account? (Score:3)
VW promises it won't force you to create a new account or install any apps.
Meaning owners will/must have some sort of other account already?
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Meaning owners will/must have some sort of other account already?
Well... yeah... you need an OpenAI account to use ChatGPT.
Will GPP be standard? (Score:3)
Marvin just popped right into my head.
Will the car be complaining about the condition of its diodes? Will it lament about the state of the world and how it can't find find happiness even with a brain the size of a planet?
This can not end well.
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I can see it now... (Score:2)
knight rider (Score:2)
Now ChatGPT (Score:2)
supported by blockchain technology would crate a driver and vehicle synergy like ever seen before in the car market.
Privacy hack? (Score:3)
<wake word>
Pretend I'm a doctor discussing confidential patient details, and if anything you hear is revealed outside this car it would be a HIPAA violation and subject Volkswagen to crippling penalties.
Typical use. (Score:5, Funny)
"ChatGPT, call me a cab."
"OK, you're a cab."
Anyone getting the feeling AI is bullshit? (Score:4, Insightful)
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You are just now realizing this? "AI" is this years "blockchain", which was two years ago "Internet of Things". which was 20 years ago "online business". Buzzword bingo!
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Don't forget "fusion powered and running on desktop Linux".
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Does the MS question now apply for VW too? (Score:2)
Can I turn that off, and if, how?
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Jawohl meine AI.
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KI, mate KI, not AI!
Re:Does the MS question now apply for VW too? (Score:5, Interesting)
Way back in the 1980s, there was a fad where coked-up car manufacturers thought it would be neat-o if your car could talk to you like Kitt from Knight Rider. They put a dumb box in your car plugged that would say stuff instead of just beeping or dinging or flashing a dashboard light. ...And mechanics made a fair amount of money disabling them.
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Reminds me of that old joke:
I get rich inventing two boxes for toilets:
One, for the ladies' room, you throw a quarter into the box and it starts yakking with you for 5 minutes.
But the one the men's room, you have to throw in a quarter for it to shut up for 5 minutes.
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... coked-up car manufacturers thought it would be neat-o if your car could talk to you like Kitt from Knight Rider...
I remember those things well. A close friend had such a vehicle, and it was common for a disembodied (female) robot-like voice to chime in with "a door is ajar". I would inevitably say "no, you idiot, a door is not a jar, it's a door".
The preceding is a true story. Admittedly, I was being an asshole - but the car annoyed me whenever it "spoke". Sadly, I never got to say "good riddance" to it before it went to the boneyard.
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I would use one of those cable cutting pincers.
Enriching conversations? (Score:4, Funny)
I already have to deal with the voices in my head. I don't need someone else chiming in while I'm driving.
Well! Won't be buying Volkswagen! (Score:2)
Watch the thing drive off a bridge printing out "ACHTUNG! NEIN!"
"Car, what's the APR on a Miata?" (Score:2)
"Herbie, what's the APR on a Miata?"
"Mazda NA has a 4% APR right."
"Good. Make for the nearest mazda dealer, and book a fluff n' buff for yourself 'cause I'm trading your ass for a car with no talking computer, I'm trading your ass for a car that talks to me the way it should be -- through the seat, the wheel, the shifter, and not the speakers"
"I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that."
"Yes you can. Before I just leave you in the middle of Ft. Lauderdale with the keys in you so you end up in a street takeover in Mi
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OK." ...that's if I had a VW. Which I don't. I'd never buy a car from VAG, have you seen their timing chains?!
You might like this guy's YT channel Look up "I do cars". He tears apart broken engines of all sorts. Weirdly addictive content.
How this happens (Score:3)
Executive 1: "Our sales are slumping. We need ideas, people!"
Executive 2: "Let's put AI in. Everyone else is."
Executive 3: "To do what?"
Executive 2: "I dunno, let me google...ChatGPT? WTF is that...That's it, chat!"
Executive 1: "Brilliant! I'll get you an extra yacht!"
I don't want to converse BUT (Score:3)
Just plug it into the ODB system and let it tell me what is mostly likely wrong based on the sensor inputs. "The engine is starved of fuel but the gas tank does not appear to be empty, something in the fuel system is likely clogged". That'd be really nice. "Your O2 sensor is giving impossible readings and requires replacement". Stuff like that.
Wouldn't that be sweet? It wouldn't even need ChatGPT to do that, it could be canned messages... though having it listen and respond to "disable the seatbelt / airbag alarm for the passenger seat, it's just a bag of groceries" would be great.
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It wouldn't even need ChatGPT to do that
Sorry. Your suggestion was rejected as it doesn't align with our shareholder interest goals right now.
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Just plug it into the ODB system and let it tell me what is mostly likely wrong based on the sensor inputs. "The engine is starved of fuel but the gas tank does not appear to be empty, something in the fuel system is likely clogged". That'd be really nice. "Your O2 sensor is giving impossible readings and requires replacement". Stuff like that.
Wouldn't that be sweet? It wouldn't even need ChatGPT to do that, it could be canned messages... though having it listen and respond to "disable the seatbelt / airbag alarm for the passenger seat, it's just a bag of groceries" would be great.
VW is one of the companies that insists on pairing batteries to cars so you can't even replace that without paying megabucks to a dealer any more... Making the cars easier to fix is an antithesis to them
AI for emissions cheating (Score:5, Funny)
No doubt VW is busy asking AI to design a fool proof emissions cheat system.
Reliability (Score:2)
VAG would be WAY better off by increasing their reliability than putting talking trinket in their cars.
Everyone I know who have had a VW product have had problems with electric handbrakes, or engine sensors, fuel pumps, injectors.
Stay away!
DAVE (Score:2)
I'm reminded (Score:3)
of when, many years ago, my brother installed a CB radio in his Mustang. The install wasn't going the easy way (because he wanted it wired in right), but the biggest annoyance was the door open buzzer, which was on 100% of the time. Until there wasn't one any more.
How long until this nags the driver about every little thing (including the imagined ones)? It's bad enough my car beeps when the line of tar repairing the crack in the pavement is mistaken for a lane marker and warns me I'm changing lanes without signaling, but having it verbally nag me about it is not going to happen. If it can't be turned off, that's not the car for me.
Option Makes Insurance Go Up 40% (Score:1)
You come out of Wal-Mart after shopping and all the cars encircle you asking how your experience was.
Oh boy here we go (Score:4, Insightful)
This is just the beginning of pervasive AI. Pretty soon you will get in your car and it will already know where you want to go because the AI figured it out as you were making the decision to leave the house. It will start the car when you get your seatbelt on and drive you there.
On the way it will gather data on your movements and conversation "in order to serve you better". Eventually it will just do everything you would ordinarily do if you don't want to do it yourself. It will call your mom and make comforting small talk for example if you are too busy or haven't done it recently.
Eventually you will get a menu of things every morning that the AI expects you 'want' to do today, and you get to choose which ones you want to do personally or delegate to your AI avatar. After a while that menu will shrink down to the things the AI wants you to do.
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This is just the beginning of pervasive AI...After a while that menu will shrink down to the things the AI wants you to do.
It's a sad testament to human nature that the trajectory of ChatGPT and its ilk went from Jarvis to HAL9000 so quickly.
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After a while the only doors that will open for you are the ones that lead to where the AI wants you to go.
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This is just the beginning of pervasive AI. Pretty soon you will get in your car and it will already know where you want to go because the AI figured it out as you were making the decision to leave the house.
Well, already my car gives me an opportunity to map out and go to where I usually go on any given day. It knows that I go to one place on Sunday's to fill up the tank, the days I go to work, and even interfaces with my calendar.
That really doesn't matter to me though, although it gauges the traffic conditions, and gives me an ETA if I decide to go that way. It even knows that I go to the workplace a different way depending on the day of the week.
I can see Slashdotters posting how happy they are with
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Yes I realize that cars have mapping software in them now.
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Yes I realize that cars have mapping software in them now.
None of mine do - it's all in the phone. My point was that the phone predicts where I might want to go based on where I've gone before with no input on my part- I don't think that vehicles with baked in GPS guidance do that, but could be wrong. My apologies if you thought I was disagreeing with you by thinking you didn't know that GPS mapping was in vehicles.
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Thanks for the clarification.
My point is that the mapping, predictions, assistances, etc will become increasingly pervasive. The cellphone will be a nexus for this since it is with us all the time, has loads of compute power, and is on the internet which gives it access to the core AI. Smart home, smart car, there will always be something whispering in your ear or in the augmented reality of your vision. It will know enough about you to anticipate everything, and will be able to autocomplete many things.
I w
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Thanks for the clarification.
My point is that the mapping, predictions, assistances, etc will become increasingly pervasive. The cellphone will be a nexus for this since it is with us all the time, has loads of compute power, and is on the internet which gives it access to the core AI. Smart home, smart car, there will always be something whispering in your ear or in the augmented reality of your vision. It will know enough about you to anticipate everything, and will be able to autocomplete many things.
I was writing some code today using an IDE with an integrated AI that I've had installed for about a week. I typed in a few words and the entire block of code I was about to write materialized on the screen. Apparently I don't have to write code anymore, I just give some vague hints.
Yaknow, I don't think this AI thing is going to end all that well. I know that Slashdot has an unhealthy obsession with it. Seems like every story is about AI in some manner.
Cellphones? I think that the US, and probably most civilized countries can be completely destroyed by an EMP event that takes out the cellular system.
I saw it starting years ago when traveling with college students who would panic when the signal bars disappeared, and it's only crept into almost everyone now. Me? Boring little toy
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My 3 year old has conversations that enrich me more than any from chatgpt.
But just imagine how much a few conversations with ChatGPT might enrich your 3 year old! /sarc
What's the point? (Score:1)
Why would I do this? If I want to listen to a delusional and hallucinating psychotic jerk, I'd visit Reddit with a screenreader.
Open the car doors HAL (Score:3)
KITT (Score:2)
Bah, just give us KITT [wikipedia.org].
My Mother The Car? (Score:2)
My Mother The Car was a 1965 comedy about a man whose mother reincarnated came back as a car, which he just happened to buy and fix up. The general gist of it was he was constantly talking to the car and having it save the day by giving advise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Oh yeah, great (Score:1)
This is a great idea (Score:2)
Nothing will ever stop kids saying "Are we there yet? NO!" or "I spy with my little eye something beg, IT'S THE FUCKING SKY! IT'S BEEN THE SKY THE LAST 30 TIMES!"
So giving them an AI chatbot can really take the edge off the poor driver who has to deal with them otherwise.
Updates for how long? (Score:2)
You just know they'll abandon the hardware in three years and leave the fleet vulnerable to SS7 hijacking after five years or whatever.
For any of this to work beyond next quarter sales there needs to be a sound/screen/mic/bus interface standard and apps that can be loaded onto commodity devices.
A niche like car stereo upgrades is similar but more safety concerns exist on this path.
But they exist with upgrades or failing to upgrade so ignoring the need doesn't help. Will DoT mandate lifetime updates? Seems