AI takeover! Hyundai Ioniq 9 to become a smartphone on wheels

Hyundai is using artificial intelligence (AI) to make driving safer, colloquially describing its new Ioniq 9 flagship as a “smartphone on wheels”. But before we all surrender our driving licences and switch to robotaxis and autonomous cars, the maker has assured us it’ll “transform how drivers and passengers interact with their car on a daily basis”.

Raf van Nuffel, vice president of product at Hyundai Motor Europe, said: “There are so many parallels between modern cars and smartphones. Especially now that we're working also on the next generation of software-defined vehicles.

“Software is becoming even more important than the hardware, as it is on smartphones. The car is always connected, all the time; you have OTA (over-the-air) updates, so it also becomes more personalised – more personalisation is available for the customers, as it is with phones”, he said.

So instead of using AI to remove the human from the equation, Hyundai claims its investment in the technology will allow drivers to better focus on the road ahead. For example, using the car’s voice assistant to set a sat-nav destination or change the climate control, rather than being distracted by looking down to press buttons or fiddle with the screen.

Hyundai says its voice assistant is designed for “natural, context-aware conversations” and that it has been developed sufficiently so that it understands “complex questions and responds with clear, relevant answers”. The maker says the system is now capable of “eliminating the need for rigid commands”, and can even engage in follow-up conversations.

During a livestream, Prof. Dr. Mario Trapp, CEO of AI research company Fraunhofer IKS, admitted that, to date, AI has been seen as a “highly unreliable technology”, saying that the world has a responsibility to “develop it in a safe way”.

“Let’s use the potential of AI,” he said. “But let’s not put ourselves at an unacceptable risk”.

The team leading Hyundai’s artificial intelligence push admits that the ultimate goal is for AI and its associated systems to bring safety benefits for autonomous driving. Initially focused on level 4 and level 5 autonomy for highway driving – allowing for a fully hands-off driving experience – they acknowledged that urban usage is more complicated.  

Tristan Horx, Hyundai’s futurist and trend researcher said: “It's going to bring quite a few interesting moral conundrums in the future, which I'm sure we'll be able to iron out”.

Next year, van Nuffel says Hyundai will introduce its all-new infotainment platform, which will have a “store open for external partners to put their apps for the customers”. He didn’t elaborate as to the kind of services that might provide, but you can expect Hyundai’s AI to be integrated from the outset.

The new Hyundai Ioniq 9 is already available through the Auto Express Buy a Car service. You can get your hands on one for less than £60,000, or alternatively leasing deals are available for just over £550 per month.