At a media event in New York, GM announced a new “eyes-off” driving feature and a new conversational AI assistant for its vehicles. It will be, according to the company’s press release, “a new era of transportation.”
General Motors wants you to text your pals, call an ex, or talk to an AI assistant you’re forming a dangerously casual relationship with as a result of said ex – just please, do anything but pilot the 5,000-pound hunk of metal feet from other human beings. The feature, and “a new era of transportation,” is coming soon – GM says 2028. It will debut on the Cadillac Escalade IQ, so really it’ll be a 9,134-pound hunk of metal. There’s a disclaimer in the press release reminding you to “Always pay attention while driving and when using Super Cruise. Do not use a hand-held device.”
GM’s press materials also remind everyone that there hasn’t been a single crash “attributed” to Super Cruise. The company says it has mapped 600,000 miles of road suitable for hands-free and soon eyes-free driving, with five million more mapped for fully driverless cars thanks to its subsidiary, Cruise. Cruise was bought piece-by-piece by GM, starting in 2016. After the company failed to get off the ground and a Cruise taxi dragged a woman through traffic in an accident, its CEO resigned. GM stepped in to pick up the pieces and to leverage Cruise’s driverless tech for its own development.
GM’s Got A New AI Assistant
Cadillac
Starting next year, GM vehicles will feature a new conversational AI assistant – meaning one you can talk to like it’s a person – powered by Google’s Gemini AI. More natural conversation is GM’s big selling point here, with the brand stating you’ll be able to speak to it “as naturally as you would to a fellow passenger.”
Buyers need to pay special attention to what they opt in to: GM’s statement also says that with your permission, “it will be fine-tuned with your vehicle’s intelligence and your personal preferences, all connected by OnStar.” GM already faced backlash for its use of OnStar to collect and sell vehicle data to brokers for a profit. There are benefits for you, though, like “finding the perfect place for dinner en route.”
Automakers Buy Into The Hot New Thing Without Thinking – Again
Automakers refuse to acknowledge the human toll taken by AI datacenters. Make no mistake – your use of an AI assistant like ChatGPT causes serious, real-world problems for other human beings. People living near the data centers that will power AI features like GM’s deal with polluted water, constant noise, insulting electricity costs, and a housing market so sky-high that most of them can’t hope to move away. Like they did with NFTs, automakers have seen a hot new gimmick they can get consumers to buy into so they can charge more for their cars as the average transaction price of a new car is now over $50,000.
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