We hear a lot about deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI). That’s basically lines of code that learn from the data your digital devices produce. It can be used to make things around you work better.

Cars produce a lot of data, now that they have computer brains, and the more digital and electronic combine, the “smarter” cars become.

Once upon a time, smart cars were simply smaller – yay parking – but any intelligence came from the driver.

 

With advances in technology, vehicles are increasingly equipped with algorithms that read and learn as we drive. They crunch code to offer you handy parking assistance, and it goes all the way to automated, self-driving cars that do the driver’s work. But what if you like being behind the wheel? Can smart, self-driving technology still serve you when you’re in control of the car?

Hyundai, the South Korean industrial megaproducer asked just this question and is launching motor technology that lets your Hyundai learn from you.

It’s part of their effort to develop the autonomous driving technology sector, which they’re pumping more than R500 billion into over the next five years.

By 2025 they’ll also have 23 different electronic vehicles (which is good, because they are in the top five most polluting companies in the industry[1]), so they are clearly speeding up their efforts to put people and the planet first.

 

H-you-ndai, only better

The tech “watches” the way you drive and replicates the best of it in suitable situations. Bet you don’t know what your preferred freeway speed is.  The intelligence-enhanced Hyundai will know, though, and it’ll show you, too.

 

The first feels

The intelligence will first take effect in cruise control. Cruise control is an electronic setting that keeps a vehicle at a constant speed. It’s useful for the open road and other situations where you’d rather be doing a yoga pose than pushing the accelerator for ages.  Hyundai’s offering is called Smart Cruise Control-Machine Learning and promises to make your long trips easier on the brain and legs.

 

The full effect

The smart effect (as it currently stands) will also feature in accelerating, adapting to different roads and your stop gap – the safe distance you keep from other cars (it’s at least 3 seconds, right?). Going forward, advances in programming will probably allow the technology to tweak our road skills in ever more responsible and efficient ways.

 

How does it learn?

The car gathers data as you drive thanks to sensors positioned all around it. They measure your moves and translate it into better driving grooves but…

 

Don’t expect to become a MacGyver driver just yet

Speed demons, take note: your smart Hyundai is not going to turn you into a rally driver. It’s programmed to omit any unsafe or unsavoury driving habits. Which means, ultimately, that your car might teach you a thing or two!

P.S. We are joking about the yoga. You should never disengage your limbs in the driver’s seat if the car is moving or idling. Keep the Dancer Pose for the dancefloor! What’s more, we want to emphasise that Hyundai’s tech does NOT turn a human-driven car into an autonomous one. It’s categorised as Level 2 self-driving technology where only two or a few more features are automated.

 

What would you love your smart(er) car to do? Follow us on Faceboook and tell us your AI car wishlist and tag @dotsurepetsa in your next Facebook post. We’d love to see your smile behind the wheel.

 

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[1] https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/24131/car-industrys-2018-carbon-footprint-exceeds-eu-greenhouse-gas-emissions-greenpeace/