The Kia EV3 – the new all-electric compact SUV unveiled on Thursday – illustrates a growing interest among global automakers to bring generative AI to their vehicles.
The automaker said the Kia EV3 will include a new voice assistant built on ChatGPT, the text-generating AI chatbot developed by OpenAI. The Kia EV3 and its AI assistant will first go on sale in Korea in July 2024, followed by Europe in the second half of the year. Kia expects to expand sales of the Kia EV3 to other regions after the European launch. The Kia EV3 will eventually come to the United States, although the automaker has not provided a date.
However, this is not a pure OpenAI affair. Kia also had its hands in the development of the voice assistant.
Pablo Martinez, Kia’s head of customer experience design, explained that while the major language model (LLM) behind AI assistant ChatGPT is OpenAI, it has been “heavily customized” and customized by the automaker. These changes have been made to allow customers to plan trips, drive the vehicle and find entertainment, including music or games, all through the new Kia Assistant, Martinez said during a media briefing ahead of the unveiling.
Voice assistants in vehicles are not new. But the experience for drivers ranges from useless to omg-why-am-I-yelling-at-my-car. Automakers like BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have argued that generative AI will make voice assistants much more capable and give them the ability to naturally engage with drivers and passengers.
Talk of applying generative AI to vehicles increased last year when the topic – and the startup OpenAI – reached the hype stratosphere. Mercedes-Benz added the conversational AI bot to its MBUX infotainment system in June 2023. In January, car manufacturers BMW and Volkswagen presented the technology at the CES technology fair in Las Vegas.
The so-called Kia Assistant first debuted in April in the Kia K4, the new compact gas sedan that will go on sale this summer. The Kia EV3 is the first fully electric vehicle in the company’s portfolio to get the new AI-based assistant.
