Each year, Mercedes-Benz announce some impressive innovations and exciting updates at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and this year’s show was no different. Armed with a significant catalogue of cutting-edge AI technology ranging from virtual assistant updates to upgrades to your music experience, Mercedes has truly created a focal point in transforming how their vehicles respond to and work with drivers while on the road.
One of the most exciting updates announced by Mercedes has revealed a whole new approach to their MBUX AI virtual assistants. This comes in the form of a more human-like system that builds on and utilises its ChatGPT-like system. Speaking to PCMag, Markus Schafer, Chief technology officer at Mercedes-Benz, stated that:
“Through advances in artificial intelligence, tomorrow’s Mercedes-Benz will know its driver like never before… It will enhance and complement our customers’ lives – in their cars and in other areas too. The latest proof points on show at CES provide an exciting glimpse of what lies ahead.”
Mercedes already has AI in their vehicles, specifically with their voice-command features that simply require drivers to use the phrase ‘Hey, Mercedes’ followed by their instruction or request, but this new update is set to offer “the most human-like interface with a Mercedes-Benz yet,” according to the company. The new MBUX virtual assistant is set to run on a brand-new MB.OS operating system, that offers exciting features ranging from predictive behaviour to four new emotion profiles that the system will operate within to engage with users on a more personalised level.
These four emotional profiles include natural, predictive, personal and empathetic, and can be set by the user or allow for more effective and in-depth engagement with the driver. It’s a huge step towards creating vehicles that truly understand their drivers, and offers the functionality to learn and adapt to preferences, needs and comfort requirements, whether that’s selecting your favourite radio station automatically, adjusting seat settings for comfort or reading out news headlines as you get in the car in the morning.
There is also talk of expanding the language models used within the new system, specifically extending past only using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. With a focus on using localised systems in the future, there is a potential for using additional language modelling programs and companies, though none have been named.
With the new human-like reactions within the vehicles, Mercedes has also described their internal debate as to whether a human-like avatar should be used on the screens. Ultimately, they decided against the human appearance, stating “Once, we thought we were going to have a face looking at you… We did lots of studies internally before we decided not to do it. Some people like it, but quite a lot more people dislike the human face. So we have a ‘star cloud’ that somehow represents something like a human being, but it’s not a face.”
The full extent of features set to be available is vast. With music upgrades, gaming improvements and even blockchain integration for NFTs and environmental responsibility made simple. This new system and all of the upcoming innovations planned are set to truly transform the way that you drive your Mercedes, and we can’t wait to find out just how fat these improvements can go.
For more information about the existing MBUX system and how we can help you with servicing and repairs where needed, simply get in touch with a member of our team. We are on hand to help.
