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 Business Times this week the future of cars was intrinsically linked to advances in AI.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Lenovo Tech World 2024 conference in Seattle, he said the influence of AI extended far beyond just driving the car. “If you think about what happened in the IT industry with being cloud-native and software-defined, that’s also happening in the automotive industry, with vehicles becoming software-defined — and it’s opened up new capabilities.
“Everyone thinks about the autonomous driving cases, but it’s also about how you navigate places, your experience in the car, the entertainment aspects of the vehicle, and 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 we’ve started exploring is virtual showrooms and vehicle customisation,” said Daigle.
“We’ve been able to showcase this with our sponsorship of Aston Martin. You could go in and customise a vehicle configuration in virtual reality [VR], with the colour and features you want, and then 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 manufacturing. 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 cases that come up,” said Daigle.
“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 with the right solutions. What you quickly find out is that every customer has slightly different priorities. One customer’s top priority in manufacturing might be supply-chain optimisation, but 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, showed the dramatic impact AI made on defect detection during manufacture. Daigle’s team worked on the project. “We were able to not just bring the technology, software and infrastructure to support that case, but 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 gave 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.”
• Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on social media on @art2gee
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