TODAY’S MOST INNOVATIVE CAR MAKERS ARE INTEGRATING AI INTO THEIR CUTTING-EDGE DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
VISIONARY 22
EXECUTIVE 28
TECHNOLOGY 32
MARKETING 34
DESIGNER 38
SUSTAINABILITY 40
POWERTRAIN 44
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 46
LEGACY OF DISRUPTION 48
FROM THE FIRST CREATIVE SPARK IN DESIGNING a car to the manufacturing, marketing and sales cycles of a vehicle, the digital future of the automotive industry is here, with artificial intelligence (AI) proving to be a vital tool. While the application of AI to increasingly self-driving vehicles may be well known, it is accelerating all aspects of the industry as car makers apply it in different ways.
“AI technology is moving at the speed of light, and its impact on the auto industry is just as disruptive as anywhere else,” Stephanie Brinley, associate director of research and analysis at S&P Global, told Newsweek.
“AI and generative AI are having an impact on workflows in all kinds of industries, and this also includes design and engineering of automobiles. The potential for speeding up processing time is significant, but so too is the need to be aware of potential pitfalls. AI results are only as good as their inputs, and bad data will create problematic results,” she said.
Some designers, including Kia’s Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Karim Habib, are encouraging their teams to use AI to spark creativity. “AI is very much influencing our way of working. We have not yet completely figured out all the ways in which AI will influence our work processes, but we are now using AI to help us illustrate our ideas faster and more accurately. It is particularly helpful in creating images of abstract concepts before we even start designing. It helps us define our creative intention with more clarity,” Habib said.
Nissan has built the Yokohama Lab research center in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, to study how to use AI in automotive manufacturing. It is tasked with finding ways to integrate AI to solve challenges from engineers and designers that can be applied in real-world scenarios.
“Automakers also use AI behind the scenes in manufacturing and development, vastly improving manufacturing quality and accuracy while decreasing product time to market with simulated testing and other measures,” Paul Waatti, director of industry analysis at AutoPacific, said.
Mercedes-Benz is using AI in many different areas. “Let me give you some more examples,” Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said. “Since last year, we have been testing ChatGPT in our digital production ecosystem. By using AI in our production environment, we want to accelerate many processes, including error identif
