- Ford has launched an AI assistant to help owners better understand their cars.
- The assistant is built into the Ford and Lincoln smartphone apps, but it will eventually be integrated into the automakers’ cars as well.
- The chatbot can summarize information from the owner’s manual and can offer tailored answers to each specific vehicle.
Ford has entered the AI assistant game with a new chatbot designed to offer answers to specific questions from owners. The American automaker has started rolling out the feature to the Ford and Lincoln smartphone apps, with a total of eight million customers slated to get the new feature soon.
The company announced earlier this year that it would integrate artificial intelligence into its software products, and now it has done just that. Ford says that its new AI assistant can explain specific features like its BlueCruise hands-free highway driving assistant system, effectively acting as a little robot that reads the owner’s manual for you.
Additionally, the chatbot can tell the owner if a certain piece of furniture fits in the cargo space, how far they can drive their EV between charging stops on a long road trip, and what type of EV charger can be used to top up the batteries.
Because the assistant is baked into the smartphone app, it has immediate and secure access to the vehicle that’s set up in the app. This way, it can offer answers without the owner having to manually input the car’s specs, including what features are available. As an added bonus, Ford’s chatbot can suggest how to troubleshoot quick fixes, based on the telemetry received from the car’s sensors.
For now, owners need to write their questions into the smartphone app, but this is just the beginning. Ford said it will gradually integrate more AI features directly into the operating systems of its vehicles, so drivers will have access to all of the available information via the infotainment screen. The first step in this direction is the addition of Google’s Gemini assistant, which is available as an opt-in alternative to Google Assistant on compatible vehicles.
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Source: Ford
With Gemini, drivers can ask naturally sounding questions that include more than one prompt, and the system will respond without sounding like a robot. Volvo and Polestar also offer Gemini in their cars.
The AI assistant that’s rolling out right now to the Ford and Lincoln smartphone apps works with 2021 and newer cars that have an active internet connection, including the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup and the Mustang Mach-E crossover. Multiple gas-powered Ford and Lincoln models are also compatible.