If there’s one innovation we’re missing in the modern world of 2018, it’s cars that can talk to us. And no, I don’t mean stuff like “My fuel is low. Please fill up on fuel at your earliest convenience” or “My tires are feeling soft. Isn’t it time you filled them up?”
I want a car you can actually chat to. You know, like the people on the radio, except your car would actually be talking back, offering advice, listening to your problems, making recommendations for awesome shows to binge on Neat-Flicks and maybe sharing family recipes. You can’t look at your phone while driving, and I’m not really big into music, so this would at least make the morning commute slightly more bearable.
I know of a few good places in Ringwood, automotive services and electrical engineering stuff are their speciality. Maybe I could ask next time I’m in and see if they’ve heard any murmurings in the industry. I remember seeing a similar thing on a show from the eighties: it was Snit from Spite-Glider, the show about a super-secret government agent who used a sentient hang-glider to get to his missions, and the hang-glider was always really snippy and snarky. So imagine that, but it’s a car, and the AI is programmed to be a lot nicer.
I guess people who do car servicing will need a whole new degree when that becomes a thing, although maybe it’ll be even easier to carry out repairs and servicing because the car will just tell you exactly what you need. You know, beep boop, my left axle need tightening, and could you scratch my exhaust port…yep, that’s the spot. Cars can’t reach their own itches, after all; they don’t even have hands.
That will be the Ringwood car servicing of the future. Might make services cheaper if the car mostly does all the work, although if you want an AI with the voice of a movie star, that’ll cost you extra. I just want one who’ll lend a listening ear to my problems.
-Alex