Germany: It’s a scenario that no driver ever wants to see: a ball rolling out into the road. The chances are it will be followed immediately by a child in hot pursuit, oblivious to any traffic. But while human drivers can assess this situation using their contextual knowledge, today’s assisted and automated driving systems still have to learn how to do it.
Bosch is pursuing the use of generative AI to further improve automated driving functions. As part of this, Bosch and Microsoft are exploring opportunities to collaborate and leverage the power of generative AI. “Bosch is working on bringing a new dimension of AI applications into the vehicle,” Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management, said at this year’s Bosch Connected World (BCW) AIoT industry conference in Berlin.
The expectation is that generative AI will enable vehicles to assess situations and react accordingly, and in this way keep road users even safer. Greater safety on the roads is also the wish of 60% of respondents to this year’s Bosch Tech Compass, a worldwide representative Bosch survey on the subjects of technology and AI.
Generative AI to make road traffic safer: The two companies anticipate that a collaboration would take the performance of automated driving functions to the next level. They would like to see generative AI help enhance convenience in the vehicle and to provide greater safety for all road users. To achieve this, Bosch’s comprehensive understanding of vehicles and automotive-specific AI expertise will be invaluable, as well as their access to vehicle sensor data to feed the generative AI.
“In our unwavering commitment to safer roads, Microsoft is eager to explore collaboration opportunities with Bosch to pioneer the realm of generative AI,” Uli Homann, Microsoft CVP and Distinguished Architect, said..
Even today, for training systems for automated driving, AI quickly comes up against its limits. Today’s driver assistance systems can detect people, animals, objects, and vehicles, but in the near future generative AI could help determine whether a situation could potentially lead to an accident.
Generative AI utilizes vast amounts of data to train systems for automated driving, enabling them to draw improved conclusions from this data. For example, it could deduce whether an object on the road ahead is a plastic bag or a damaged vehicle part. This information can be used either to communicate directly with the driver – such as by displaying a warning – or to initiate appropriate driving maneuvers, such as braking while switching on the hazard warning lights.
Bosch and Microsoft have already partnered to develop a universal software platform for seamlessly connecting cars and the cloud and are looking forward to working together to identify new opportunities to bring cutting-edge AI technology to their customers and the autonomous vehicle industry.
From the AI search engine to manufacturing: AI experts at Bosch are currently working on well over 120 specific applications that these new AI models open up for the company’s associates and customers. Such applications include the generation of software program code or powerful chatbots and voicebots to support technicians or interact with consumers.
Another is AskBosch, the in-house AI-assisted search engine launched at the end of 2023. It offers faster natural-language access to a wide variety of data sources, the company said in a media release.
