Software to customize cars

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told the WSJD Live conference today that he envisions cars using artificial intelligence to customize the driving experience, so vehicles automatically adjust themselves to each individual’s preferences.

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s flagship event, which features dozens of tech luminaries, including Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Netflix’s Reed Hastings, Huang said that AI will become a co-pilot that can also effectively see around corners and warn drivers of risks ahead. As well as making cars dramatically safer by eliminating scope for human error, AI capabilities will enable cars to anticipate the needs of their drivers.

“I can’t wait to turn the car into an AI and talk to it, ” he said, as in a session entitled Inside the Brain of the Artificially Intelligent Car. “It would be nice if it knew who I am and adjusted, if it knew what my day looks like so when I need to get on a conference call, it would make the call for me.”

Huang said that AI technology, powered by GPUs, will enable the networks that guide self-driving cars to become increasingly smarter over time as they are exposed to more driving data, covering the full range of permutations of events possible in driving.

“The thing about software is that its quality improves over time, while people’s ability to drive diminishes, ” Huang said. “The answer is to develop really great software.”

He predicted that the pace of improvement, from both a hardware and software perspective, will move exceptionally fast. “It’s going to move way faster than Moore’s Law, ” he said, referring to the pace of innovation foreseen by Intel pioneer Gordon Moore.