Mercedes-Benz rolls out ChatGPT-powered voice assistant in its cars

So what does ChatGPT bring to the table?

Mercedes will integrate voice control with artificial intelligence to make its existing system more intuitive. By adding ChatGPT, voice control via the MBUX Voice Assistant's “Hey Mercedes” will become even more intuitive. They believe ChatGPT will help improve natural language understanding and expand the topics to which it can respond.

If Mercedes decides to integrate the voice assistant with third-party services, drivers will also be able to make restaurant reservations or book movie tickets using speech commands.

The company announced that an optional beta program will start on June 16 in the U.S. for over 900,000 vehicles equipped with the MBUX infotainment system. The beta program will last three months, and based on customer feedback, Mercedes-Benz will consider further integration of this technology into future iterations of their MBUX Voice Assistant, said Microsoft in a blog post. Mercedes-Benz is integrating ChatGPT through Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

Owners of the luxury car and those who have the MBUX system can participate via the Mercedes app or directly from the vehicle using the voice command “Hey Mercedes, I want to join the beta program.”

First reactions and privacy concerns

Twitter is split over the announcement. Some are excited about the integration, whereas a lot of people(or bots) are questioning why drivers need this service at all when Mercedes already has a voice assistant. One Twitter user, referring to ChatGPT’s tendency to hallucinate, wrote, “In before ChatGPT creates an imaginary road that doesn’t exist and tells the driver to go down that road, causing an accident.”

Quelling privacy data concerns, Mercedes's press release said, "Data protection is a top priority for Mercedes-Benz."

"Mercedes-Benz retains complete control over the IT processes in the background. The voice command data collected is stored in the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud, where it is anonymized and analysed."

Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said, “Our customers can always rely on us to ensure the best possible protection of their data privacy. Everything is under one big goal: Redefining the relationship with your Mercedes.”