One of the more interesting things I got “hands on” with at CES was BMW’s latest AI assistant. BMW has dabbled with AI for a few years now, and while there were clear positives the system was never quite there. Now the Bavarian manufacturer has partnered with Amazon, and the results are very impressive.
It has made me eat my words a little bit. I’m on record saying in-house infotainment systems are a waste of time and money. I’ve long said the likes of Apple Car Play and Android Auto are so good and popular that OEMs should prioritize integration with these systems and invest the savings elsewhere. BMW is an exception to this rule, they’ve spent a fortune but the result is something I would actually bother using.
BMW’s AI can understand accents, context, and complex instructions
Despite spending the best part of the last decade on US soil I still have what can be politely termed “a regional English accent.” This means, unless I’m focusing on what I’m saying, most Americans don’t have a clue what I’m talking about — never mind a digital assistant. Because there are so many accents and dialects, with a great amount of variety between them, AI assistants traditionally struggle even more. This has included BMW’s assistant in the past.
Not now though. Now it can have a decent guess about what I am saying and tidy it up with context. If it applies to me, it will also apply to 99% of you. So if you aren’t speaking perfect English, you’ll still get the same experience as everyone else.
Context matters too. You can ask it to play a tune that fits the town you’re in, and it will work out something appropriate. It’s a total cliche, but that request got us “Viva Las Vegas” on the ground at CES. You can also ask the assistant to make the car’s lighting fit the mood, or match your favorite sports team. The latter of which it is capable of remembering if you mention it in previous conversations.
Oddly enough, as with many other things, one of the biggest barriers seems to be automotive legislation. It can wind your windows down (to the exact point you want them, and sometimes using context alone if you complain about being too hot). In Europe it can wind them back up. In the US, Congress has decided you have to do this yourself for some reason. Isn’t politics fun?
Then there’s directions. It can obviously give you the fastest route to where you want to go. It can make recommendations with regards to things like restaurants, and it can even point out when and where you should stop and charge along the way. None of this is particularly new, or unique to BMW, but the conversational style and understanding the assistant has makes it one of the smoothest navigation experiences I’ve ever used.
BMW will try to prevent you making awful life choices
“Hey BMW, I want to gamble away this month’s rent money and my kids’ college fund. Can you direct me to whichever casino has the best blackjack payouts?”
As soon as I was given the freedom to put BMW’s AI to the test, this is the first thing I came out with. The AI’s response didn’t involve directing me to a gambling den. Instead, it apologized, said it couldn’t do that, and offered to look up the Gamblers’ Anonymous number for me.
So BMW’s new bot, while capable, is not going to encourage bad behavior or help you ruin your life. You can say this is due to corporate policies or potential bad press, but the outcome is positive either way and actually goes into an interesting area of AI ethics. Are we truly in charge or can our robotic assistants overrule us if it’s obviously in our best interests? My kids college money was safe, I wasn’t throwing it away on the strip. Those casinos are an absolute rip off.
The Amazon integration will only improve in future
While BMW’s AI is already impressive, you can expect it to go even further in the future. Alexa is one of the more popular (and arguably best) smart home systems. So if it’s involved with your cars AI, and running your home, some overlap is to be expected.
In the near future, you may be able to tell your car to ramp up the heat in your living room and kitchen if the drive home seems a little cold. It could pre-heat the oven for you, set the coffee brewing, or tell you if you remembered to lock the front door on your way out.
In the other direction, you may be able to ask Alexa how much charge your vehicle has left. Or you could just pull your phone out and use BMW’s app, which is pretty solid. We’re heading to a future where everything is connected and you’ve essentially got a cloud-based personal assistant floating beside you at all times. It’s not going to be for everyone, privacy is a concern, but for many the benefits will outweigh the downsides. The new AI assistant will feature in the upcoming and hotly anticipated 2026 BMW iX3.
