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You'd need to have been living under a rock this year to have missed the emergence of ChatGPT. The AI-fuelled chatbot has moved into a wealth of areas.
Now, Mercedes-Benz cars are getting in on the action. They previously announced that they would be adding the feature to their in-car voice assistant, in a bid to make it even more intuitive. A beta version of that update has just dropped, which is accessible on over 900,000 vehicles in the USA.
The Mercedes-Benz MBUX Voice Assistant – or Hey Mercedes, to its friends – is already part of a really intelligent in-car infotainment system. The car can learn your behaviours to make smart suggestions as you drive.
For example, it can remember your journey to work and automatically load it when you get in the car in the morning. It can also make suggestions for alternative routes if your normal one is congested. It can even remember your favourite songs or radio stations to play as soon as you get in the car.
What's more, the whole theme of the car can be configured with different profiles. That means you can coherently change the ambience in the vehicle, to suit different occasions. You can even configure your own profile from the ground up.
ChatGPT is joining the voice assistant part of the system. The idea is to make voice commands more wide-ranging. Other voice assistants are built on pre-defined speech. And, if you've ever used one, you'll know the experience can be frustrating. If you don't get the command spot-on, you can be left high and dry.
Using ChatGPT as a base, the system should be able to process a much wider range of language. That means users should be able to speak in a conversational way, and have the car understand what you need and react accordingly.
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Mercedes aren't the first brand to adopt this. General Motors announced a similar plan earlier this year. Their plan went as far as having the car guide you through repairing faults, and even booking itself in for service when needed.
Getting access to the beta version is really simple. Users can launch it from the Mercedes me app. Or – even easier – just say "Hey Mercedes, I want to join the beta program."
That will trigger an over-the-air update, bringing the new features to your vehicle.
Sam Cross is an award-winning journalist, with nine years of experience in the media industry. His work can be found in publications as diverse as Oracle Time, Metro and Last Word on Sports.
Here at T3, Sam is best known as the brand’s go-to guy for all things luxurious – from exquisite watches to fine fragrances; the latest performance vehicles to intricate audio equipment, and more.
He’s often found travelling around the world to test new launches, complete with high-end backpacks and suitcases in tow. And when he’s not adding to his air miles, Sam can be found in front of a video camera, bringing his distinctive brand of storytelling to T3’s social media channels.
Sam also loves all things analogue including listening to music on vinyl or cassette, and photography on vintage film cameras.