Mercedes-Benz, the German luxury and commercial vehicle brand, is testing the integration of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI chatbot, into MBUX vehicles to “make the benefits of innovative AI solutions accessible to customers.”
With the validated data of MBUX Voice Assistant and natural dialogue format of ChatGPT, the new automotive AI tool can hold conversations, answer questions regarding its surroundings, deliver sports and weather updates, and be used as a smart home controller – all while the driver keeps their eyes on the road.
“While most voice assistants are limited to predefined tasks and responses, ChatGPT leverages a large language model to greatly improve natural language understanding and expand the topics to which it can respond,” the company wrote in a blog post.
The car manufacturer added that users’ data will remain private as Mercedes will retain complete control over the IT processes. “The voice command data collected is stored in the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud, where it is anonymized and analyzed,” it explained.
The beta program, which is expected to last three months, rolls out June 16 and will be available in the U.S. for over 900,000 vehicles containing the MBUX infotainment system.
Mercedes-Benz owners can join the program by going to the Mercedes me app or using the voice command “Hey Mercedes, I want to join the beta program,” straight from their vehicle.
Mercedes-Benz Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer called the integration a company milestone as it paves the way to making its vehicles the “center of our customers’ digital lives.”
“Everything is under one big goal: Redefining the relationship with your Mercedes,” he shared.
Last February, Mercedes-Benz teamed up with Google to adopt its ‘supercomputers’ and offer predictive traffic information and automatic routing in its vehicles.