A back seat driver you want: How AI will alter the driving experience

To be able to drive autonomously, vehicles must be able to process lots of information as well as learn from it in order to make decisions. — Volkswagen AG/dpa

Already being utilised in household appliances, artificial intelligence has now caught the interest of major carmakers, who are interested in how to best bring the technology to the streets.

With artificial intelligence (AI), carmakers are looking at how to make a back seat driver improve the driving experience.

Almost all major manufacturers are looking into ways that AI could make suggestions to the driver that help with comfort, control, safety and navigation.

"Artificial intelligence already plays an important role in the automotive industry today," explains Jan Burgard, partner of the strategy consulting firm Berylls Strategy Advisors.

"Manufacturers are currently focusing on natural speech recognition for infotainment control and image recognition, which is used in driver assistance systems."

Using the automatic image and pattern recognition that makes up the driver assistance system, the vehicle analyses future traffic situations and makes predictions about the behaviour of others.

Among other things, the system recognises buildings, vehicles, people, trees, sidewalks, localised traffic lights and smaller obstacles on the road to determine the best route. In such cases, AI helps review and make decisions to get the best results in less time for the driver.

"Ultimately, however, AI always needs the participation of humans and is based on human development," says Steven Peters, AI development engineer at Daimler.

The name "artificial intelligence" is misleading, as it understates the importance of human learning and AI's reliance on a reliable data feed to be effective.

For example, owners of a new A-Class with the MBUX entertainment system now automatically receive suggestions that the system has learned over time.

"If you call your mother on the way home on Tuesdays, you will get their phone number on the display on that day of the week," says Peters.

Likewise, anyone who regularly changes to a radio station with news at a certain time will also receive this as a suggestion.

AI effectively makes the car a personal assistant to the driver.

"Among the advantages of systems equipped with AI is their limitless capacity: The system cannot be distracted, it does not tire and it stays fully concentrated even in confusing situations," explains Andre Roskopf, AI expert at BMW. – dpa