How Google's Gemini AI Will Transform The Driving Experience
This month Google launched their new Pixel Smartphone line but much of the first part of the announcement was on Google’s Gemini AI which, when coupled with Android Auto, will provide the first Generative AI interface in a car and a precursor to what the coming Gemini enabled cars will be like. It will be a game changer as it will begin to turn your car from a thing you have to learn how to use, to something that learns how to best work with you.
Voice Command To Conversational AI
Voice command technology goes back to the 1990s and it is painful to use unless you are willing to either listen to the prompts every time you use it or take the time to memorize them. Even then you are limited to the prompts in the system and can’t go off the script or the tool won’t work.
With conversational Generative AI, you don’t need to learn anything other than to be succinct and complete in your commands and interactions. And, as the AI learns from you, you don’t even need to be as complete as you initially did.
For instance, you might initially ask the AI to call your spouse using her name, but once the AI makes that connection you could just say call my spouse or, as part of a chained set of instructions, you can use pronouns rather than the name of the person to execute subsequent commands.
You can’t really have a conversation with the old command-based technology because it only understands the programmed commands, but with conversational Generative AI, you can just chat with it.
Gemini In Your Car – The Next Step
But while you can have conversations and ask Gemini questions once your car is connected to Android Auto, the real magic will happen when cars with Gemini built in show up. Then you’ll be able to give your car natural language instructions like “turn on 3D surround cameras” or “park in that space in front of me to the right” and the car will simply follow your instructions.
In addition, rather than getting a warning light with little to no context or information, Gemini should be able to expand on the alert telling you whether the car should immediately be shut off (like when a timing chain breaks) or whether you can keep driving until you get to a repair shop as with most “check engine” light problems.
Knowing your likes and dislikes the AI will also be able to suggest interesting places to eat, stop, and to point out interesting things along the road you might have otherwise missed. In short, Gemini will be very much like a co-pilot and, once integrated with autonomous driving, will behave more like a chauffeur in terms of keeping you safe, and alerting you to any potential problems before they become critical.
Gemini, Google’s AI, is a major part of the new Google Pixel phone launch, but this technology will eventually find its way into car AV systems, and when it does, it will transform the car experience into something closer to having a dedicated and experienced chauffeur than anything you’ve so far seen from in-car automation and entertainment.
