The way cars are built, sold and used is undergoing a transformation every bit as dramatic as the move from internal combustion to electric engines.
While engine design represents a fundamental shift in how vehicles are powered, the new revolution is changing how they are experienced. At the heart of this transformation lies AI, which is not only reshaping the automotive industry but also redefining our relationship with cars.
Robert Daigle, global AI director of Lenovo, the world’s largest computer maker, told Gadget that the future of automobiles is intrinsically linked to advances in AI. Speaking on the sidelines of the Lenovo Tech World 2024 conference in Seattle last week, he said the influence of AI extended far beyond just driving the car.
“If you think of what happened in the IT industry with being cloud-native and software-defined, that’s happening in the automotive industry with vehicles becoming software-defined, and it’s opened up new capabilities.
“Everyone thinks of the autonomous driving use cases, but it’s also about how you navigate places, your experience in the vehicle, the entertainment aspects of the vehicle, as well as safety features.”
In some ways, the car of the future is shaping up to be a smart, mobile living and working space as much as a means of transport. The integration of AI will enable vehicles to understand and adapt to their occupants’ needs and preferences, creating a more personalised and enjoyable journey.
It is also changing how cars are designed, manufactured, and sold.
“One of the things that we have started exploring is virtual showrooms and vehicle customisation,” said Daigle. “We’ve been able to showcase this with our sponsorship with Aston Martin. You could go in and customise a vehicle configuration in virtual reality (VR) with the colour and features that you wanted, and be able to experience getting into that vehicle in VR before making a purchase.”
This approach not only enhances the customer experience but also has the potential to streamline the manufacturing process. By allowing customers to virtually customise their vehicles before production, manufacturers can reduce waste and increase efficiency.
“Customers even surprise you with what they want. You get some really interesting use cases that come up. We start the conversation with customers about the art of the possible and everything they could be doing with AI, and then start unpacking their specific business pain points for their organisation, trying to marry that up with the right solutions.
“What you quickly find out is that every customer may have slightly different priorities. One customer’s top priority in manufacturing might be supply chain optimisation, and the next manufacturing customer’s biggest pain point might be defect detection.”
During an earlier presentation, Jason Huang, general manager of Lotus Cars’ smart cockpit division, had shown the dramatic impact AI had made on defect detection during manufacture. Daigle’s team had worked on the project.
“We were able to not just bring the technology, the software and infrastructure to support that use case, we actually did the full proof of concept and implementation that started with Lenovo’s AI Fast Start service from our professional services team,” said Daigle.
The impact of AI also extends into the realm of motorsports. Daigle shared a fascinating example of how Lenovo worked with Richard Childress Racing, 16-times NASCAR champions, to optimise pit stops. They developed a custom AI solution that uses computer vision to monitor refuelling, telling the pit crew exactly when to stop fuelling to ensure the perfect amount of fuel for the race.
What about conversations with the car?
“I think we’re really close to that. You’re seeing some of this technology in our AI PCs and our Moto AI phones. So I think it’s just a matter of time.”
* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on social media on @art2gee.