Alphabet’s Google is rolling out key capabilities for its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant to Volkswagen drivers in a smartphone app, part of Google’s strategy to win business by offering tools to build enterprise AI applications.
Consumers can ask Volkswagen’s in-app assistant “How do I change a flat tire?” You can ask questions like. Or point your phone camera at the vehicle dashboard to get relevant information.
The AI assistant is based on Google’s Gemini large language models, programs that can understand human language and cloud computing capability and generate predictive responses.
The VW tool was designed by combining data such as Volkswagen owner’s manuals and YouTube videos on vehicle maintenance into Gemini.
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian told Reuters the product needed to overcome technical barriers to multimodality, the ability to process different data types such as text, images and video.
Kurian said, “The problem looks superficially simple, but technically it is very complex. Most people think what we have created is a speech-to-text translation system and then look for a manual. no way.”
The AI assistant is free and available to approximately 120,000 owners of Volkswagen’s Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport models. It will be launched early next year for other cars from model year 2020 and onwards.
Corporate adoption of generic AI could transform the lucrative cloud computing market, where Google ranks third in market share behind Amazon and Microsoft. Most companies are still searching for applications that users will find practical.
Cloud computing is a growing business segment for Google, contributing $33 billion (roughly Rs. 2,75,989 crore) out of the company’s total revenue of $307 billion (roughly Rs. 25,67,539 crore) in 2023.
The company has said AI solutions have generated billions in revenue this year, though it declined to disclose more precise figures.
Volkswagen declined to provide details about the use of its AI assistant so far.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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