How will AI impact the auto industry

These days, it’s not just the office sci-fi nerds talking about AI by the water cooler. Artificial intelligence has gone mainstream, and every day there’s more buzz about language-learning models like Chat GPT and visual tools like Dall-E. The tech is already transforming (and disrupting) many industries, from retail to banking.

But what’s the latest in AI auto news? Things are moving fast and by 2030 an estimated 10-15% of car sales are expected to be highly autonomous vehicles. Let’s take a look at how AI is changing the game from the production line to the street.

autonomous transportation

Within the next 10-20 years, autonomous vehicles—or self-driving cars—will be mainstream. There are already vehicles on the road that operate with some degree of autonomy, like the Tesla Model 3, which has adaptive cruise control for the highway and can even change lanes on its own, but it is still necessary to have a human behind the wheel.

Fully autonomous cars will transform the way drivers experience transport, making it safer and more convenient to travel by car. Robo taxis and delivery vehicles have the potential to revolutionize the logistics industry.

But best of all, the rise of self-driving cars means it won’t be long until drivers can bid goodbye to dreary commutes and (literally) put their feet up, relax and catch up on a box set while their vehicle hits the road.

manufacturing

Behind the scenes AI means big changes for the car manufacturing industry, which is still recovering from a post-pandemic supply chain crunch. The smart guys at McKinsey have rounded up some of the core ways AI will change auto manufacturing.

Algorithms to predict mechanical problems will help preempt failures on the assembly line, saving huge amounts of money in stoppage and maintenance. Collaborative work between humans and robots will improve efficiency significantly—and productivity could jump by 20%.

AI will also help manage supply chains, helping to avoid a repeat of the disruption felt in the last few years.

safety

Turns out humans aren’t the best drivers (eep!). The adoption of existing driver assistance technology in more vehicles could mean a 15% fall in traffic accidents by the end of the decade. These tools keep the car a safe distance from other vehicles and can automatically brake in an emergency. It also alerts drivers to pedestrians or cyclists. As higher level autonomous vehicles go mainstream the bar for safe driving will only go up.

AI is also being used in general traffic management systems, with some researchers proposing a different set of rules at traffic lights so that the flow of traffic can be dictated by autonomous vehicles.

It’s gonna be a few years before we’re zooming around like Tom Cruise in Minority Report. But AI is already setting new standards for safety and manufacturing and each new release is changing the price of vehicles on the market.

While we race into the future there’s no time like the present to check out how much your car is worth—you might want to check out Peddle's online car valuation tool while that lasts.