The Kia EV3 – the new all-electric compact SUV unveiled on Thursday – shows the growing appetite among global automakers to bring genetic artificial intelligence to their vehicles.
The automaker said the Kia EV3 will feature a new voice assistant powered by ChatGPT, the text-generating artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. The Kia EV3, and its AI assistant, will go on sale for the first time in Korea in July 2024, followed by Europe in the second half of the year. Kia expects to expand sales of the vehicle to other regions after the European launch. It will eventually come to the United States, though the automaker didn’t give a date.
This is not, however, a pure OpenAI case. 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 large language model (LLM) behind the AI assistant is ChatGPT, it has been “heavily modified” and adapted by the automaker. Those modifications were made to allow customers to plan trips, control the vehicle and find entertainment, including music or games, 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 between useless and um-why-am-I-screaming-at-my-car. Automakers such as BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have argued that genetic AI will make voice assistants far more capable and enable them to interact with drivers and passengers in a natural, conversational way.
Talk of applying genetic artificial intelligence to vehicles grew last year as the topic — and startup OpenAI — hit the stratosphere. Mercedes-Benz added the AI conversational bot to its MBUX infotainment system in June 2023. By January, BMW and Volkswagen were showcasing the technology at the CES tech show in Las Vegas.
Kia Assistant first debuted in April with the Kia K4, the new gas-guzzling compact sedan coming to market this summer. The Kia EV3 is the first all-electric vehicle in the company’s portfolio to get the new AI-based assistant.
