IBM Joins Forces with BMW to Develop an In-Car AI

IBM announced that it has partnered with the BMW Group to develop an AI solution for cars.

IBM, in a statement, said that a team of IBM technologists, developers and consultants, and a team of BMW engineers will tinker on four of BMW’s i8 hybrid sports cars to develop an AI that enables “new conversational interfaces between cars and drivers.”

“With this agreement, our companies will work together to lay the foundations so that drivers can benefit from Watson’s conversational and machine learning capabilities. Our insight shows that while the car will remain a fixture in personal transportation, the driving experience will change more over the next decade than at any other time of the automobile’s existence,” said Harriet Green, Global Head of IBM’s Watson IoT business.

The IBM-BMW partnership specifically aims to develop an in-car AI that is capable of learning the driving habits, needs and preferences of human drivers and customize the driving experience accordingly. This in-car AI is also envisioned to know the car’s manual so that drivers can ask questions; incorporate data from the Weather Company, an IBM business, as well as know about the route, vehicle and traffic status to improve the driving experience and also to make recommendations to the driver.

Results of a study conducted by IBM showed that cars are becoming self-learning and self-driving. According to the study, cars with “cognitive capability” continually learn and give recommendations based on the behavior of other vehicles, driver and passengers. The IBM study further showed that cars are shifting from limited automation to becoming fully autonomous.