The Evolution of Conversational AI in the Car and Beyond - Shyamala Prayaga, Sr Software Product Manager, Ford - Project Voice X

The evolution of conversational AI in the car and beyond has seen significant advancements since its inception in 2004 with Honda collaborating with IBM to launch a voice navigation system. Over time, natural language understanding improved, and companies like Ford launched their own voice assistants. In 2013, Apple changed the game by integrating Siri into cars through CarPlay, followed by Android Auto in 2014. Amazon's Alexa entered the automotive space in 2017 with an embedded system for Ford vehicles, and later collaborated with other companies to create Voice Interoperability. In 2019, Amazon launched Alexa Auto SDK, which enabled more control over in-car systems. The future of conversational AI in cars is expected to include sentiment analysis, emotion recognition, and humanized technologies for a more personalized user experience.