ChatGPT is becoming an increasingly fascinating part of our daily lives. A vision endorsed by the German manufacturer Mercedes. In its latest press release, the company has just announced a partnership with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. Let’s take a closer look at this innovation, inspired by a science fiction film, already in beta testing since Friday…
“Hey Mercedes, I want to join the beta programme”.
This is the magic formula that American Mercedes customers will have to pronounce to test ChatGPT. This is a full-scale test that will be carried out on 900,000 vehicles in the United States equipped with the MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) multimedia interface. Like Google or Siri, Mercedes is offering its customers a highly intuitive voice assistant. A new-generation chatbot promoting a new era for in-car voice assistants. All thanks to the technological advances offered by the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service platform.
The integration of ChatGPT with Microsoft in our controlled cloud environment is a milestone on our way to making our cars the centre of our customers’ digital lives. Our beta programme boosts the existing Hey Mercedes functions such as navigation queries, weather requests and others with the capabilities of ChatGPT.
Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, Development & Procurement
As stated in the press release, Soon, participants who ask the Voice Assistant for details about their destination, to suggest a new dinner recipe, or to answer a complex question, will receive a more comprehensive answer – while keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.” So the MBUX multimedia interface will no longer be content simply to respond to predefined tasks. It will considerably broaden its scope, in particular by taking advantage of the Large Language Model (LLM) of OpenAI’s famous chatbot.
Data confidentiality guaranteed…
This is the promise announced by Mercedes. A guarantee made possible by the ability of its Azure partner to ensure 3 core businesses. The security, confidentiality, and reliability of the project. What’s more, Mercedes-Benz claims to retain “full control of the IT processes in the background”. This is confirmed by the fact that all the data collected via voice control will be “stored in the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud, where it is anonymised and analysed”.
Data protection is a top priority for Mercedes-Benz. Customers know at all times what information is collected and for what purpose, and they are free to make their own decisions. Mercedes-Benz protects all customer data from manipulation and misuse.
press release of MERCEDES-BENZ
Thanks to this trial phase, which is expected to last three months, the manufacturer’s developers will be in charge of analyzing the various requests specified by the customer. This will provide them with a wealth of valuable information, enabling them to prioritize the next steps in optimizing the voice assistant. A true conversational robot offering a truly enhanced experience. In fact, according to the Microsoft blog, Microsoft is currently “exploring” the integration of ChatGPT plugins, enabling drivers to make restaurant reservations or buy cinema tickets. A new feature that should fit in perfectly with the innovative Mercedes Pay + service launched a few months ago…
