Google has provided the technology platform to launch an artificial intelligence assistant for Volkswagen car owners in a smartphone app. For the search giant, this project is an opportunity to expand its business by attracting corporate clients to its cloud AI platform, writes Reuters.
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Users of the application can ask the AI assistant questions related to vehicle maintenance. For example, “How to change a flat tire?”, or you can point your phone camera at the dashboard and get the relevant information. The AI assistant is based on the large Google Gemini language model – it understands questions asked in natural human language and gives mostly adequate answers to them. Volkswagen has added new information to Gemini, including operating manuals for the brand’s vehicles and YouTube videos on vehicle maintenance.
When implementing the project, it was necessary to overcome a number of technical obstacles related to the multimodal nature of the model, explained Thomas Kurian, CEO of the Google Cloud division. “At first glance, the task seems simple, but technically it is very complex. Most people think we’ve created a speech-to-text translation system that then looks up instructions. Not at all,” said the top manager. The AI assistant is free and available to 120,000 Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport owners. It will be rolled out to other vehicles by early next year, starting with the 2020 model range and beyond.
The cloud computing segment is a growing area for Google – last year it accounted for $33 billion of total revenue of $307 billion. This year, AI-based solutions have already brought Google billions in revenue, the company said, but more precise figures have not yet been disclosed. Volkswagen has also refused to talk about the AI assistant in more detail.