In an announcement at CES 2024, Amazon and BMW have revealed a new partnership aimed at transforming the in-car experience. This collaboration, leveraging a large language model (LLM) combined with Alexa and the actual driver’s manual, is set to significantly enhance the existing capabilities of the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant.
Integrating LLMs and Alexa for Seamless Interaction
According to BMW, the newly unveiled system allows users to engage with an Alexa-powered chatbot, providing a more natural and interactive way to access real-time information about their vehicles. By seamlessly integrating the LLM with the driver’s manual, users can now pose questions about various car features, such as the parking assistance system, and receive conversational answers. Amazon touts this tool as offering a “more natural way of getting to know your new car,” aiming to simplify the learning process for users.
Real-Time Answers about Your Vehicle’s Features
Moreover, BMW says this advanced voice technology goes beyond being just an information delivery system. Users can instruct the chatbot to perform specific actions on their behalf, such as entering a particular drive mode. The integration with the infotainment system further enhances the user experience, allowing for hands-free control over various aspects of the vehicle. Users can effortlessly command the assistant to play music, navigate to a destination, adjust the internal temperature, and more, all while minimizing distractions and ensuring a safer driving experience.
Coming to iDrive 9
Both BMW and Amazon emphasize that this collaborative effort is designed to “strip away complexity and minimize distractions in the car.” The result is a sophisticated voice assistant that not only provides informative responses but also seamlessly integrates into the user’s driving environment, enhancing convenience and safety.
The new advanced LLM capabilities and Alexa technology will be integrate in BMW vehicles featuring BMW Operating System 9 (iDrive 9). BMW has yet to confirm whether a similar technology will be implemented in iDrive 8.5.
