How ChatGPT Could Change the Automobile Industry

The way we interact as humans has changed drastically over the past two decades; phone calls have given way to texts, long-drawn out work conversations over email have moved to instant messengers, face-to-face conversations can now be had from thousands of miles away. You can even order a cake for your loved one living on an entirely different continent.  

Technology has made life efficient. And it has also changed the way we buy and sell products. You can now order a pizza for dinner and buy a car in as many steps from the comfort of your home. What a time to be alive. 

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has played a key role behind the scenes for years. It’s not magic that allows your food delivery app to recommend food you like, it’s AI. The car you drive is assembled in a factory with men and women, but a large part of its production is handled by robots being powered by AI. And somewhere along the way, your phone began to talk back to you when you asked it something.

It’s all rooted in deep learning models that have given birth to the latest AI sensation that has taken the internet by storm–ChatGPT. The chatbot from OpenAI has crossed a million users within a week of being open to the public, and it’s showing no signs of slowing. And that begs the question, how can ChatGPT be leveraged in the automotive industry? Before we move on, let’s answer a simple question first: what is ChatGPT?

What is ChatGPT?

To put it simply, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot capable of not just having conversations, but learning from them as dialogue progresses. And while it’s still a prototype that can’t gather information from the internet, it can talk about a wide range of topics. It can even solve formulas, debug code, or tell you about your favourite dog breed. 

Artificial Intelligence in Cars

Artificial intelligence in cars is not new, in fact, it has been around for decades, with Adaptive Cruise Control first being used in cars in the ‘90s, allowing cars equipped with the feature to slow down or speed up based on the object in front. Today, things have become a bit more advanced to say the least, with some cars practically driving themselves, while others will park themselves for you.

ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) meanwhile, is making cars safer, capable of not only emergency braking should the driver not notice an object on the road, but can even intervene with steering inputs to avoid, let’s say, another vehicle that has strayed out of its lane.    

ChatGPT in Automobile Industry

While we may be some way off flying cars like seen on The Jetsons, ChatGPT in automobiles, and the automobile industry as a whole could be a potential game changer. The potential applications are endless, from reducing cases of driving under the influence, to helping you buy your next car, to even helping you calculate your EMI. 

As a safety feature

ChatGPT in the automobile industry could do wonders to improve road safety. Picture this: you go out to meet your friends, have a few drinks and decide you aren’t too drunk to drive. You get in your car, but before you can go on, the AI in your car makes you solve a puzzle on the car’s screen to ensure you are in your senses. Fail, and you’ve got to sleep it off and the car won’t start.

Of course, in an ideal world one would know on their own to not drive after drinking, but think of the lives this could potentially save. Here’s another scenario: you have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere, with no one to help. The AI in your car could either fetch information from the internet, or have data stored in the system, potentially guiding you to fix the issue yourself. 

In the used car market

Buying a car is a big decision, whether it’s new or used. Given the financial commitment involved, some people take months deliberating on a variety of factors such as budget, fuel type, manufacturer, body type etc.

During this process, they’ll take the opinions of friends and family, further complicating matters. An AI Chat assistant could do wonders to reduce the process, as it would be able to converse with the user with real time data and use cases to help them choose the ideal car without bias.

Only three people in the family? Perhaps a hatchback or a sedan. Not planning to do a lot of driving? Low fuel efficiency is not an issue. Have issues in your knees? Perhaps consider an automatic. Even in the used car market, which used to be an unorganised space in India until CARS24 came along, AI can help streamline the process of finding the right car.

With tens of thousands of cars to choose from, an AI chatbot such as ChatGPT could simply have an open chat with the potential customer and direct them to their car, book a test drive, and even help calculate the EMI for them, as shown in the example below.

Add self-driving cars to the mix, and you could potentially have a future where a car drives itself to the customer’s home for a test drive, greets them cheerfully and explains all the car’s features, with zero human interaction.  

Even though it’s still in early stages, ChatGPT and any other potential AI Chatbots that leverage machine learning to generate human-like responses, could change the way we do everything in the very near future. 

Perhaps our cars will go grocery shopping for us, or maybe they’ll decide it’s time to sell and get in touch with CARS24, all on their own. Who knows.