We?re creatures of habit. It’s not a stretch to imagine someone picking up bagels for the office on Tuesdays, trying a new restaurant on the way home from a long Wednesday, and usually taking the scenic route after dropping the kids off at swimming lessons on the weekend. The thought that things would be easier if our vehicles recognized these patterns and helped us out along the way is gaining momentum.
Enter OnStar Go, which General Motors is co-developing with IBM’s Interactive Experience (iX) division. OnStar Go is claimed to be ?the auto industry?s first cognitive mobility platform.?
It uses IBM’s Watson AI, which learns driver preferences and then applies machine-learning strategies to sift through data, and it finds patterns in habits and decisions within the apps you choose to run. The service is an expansion of the OnStar AtYourService platform, which helps the user find goods and services?and sometimes offers coupons or discounts. But here it taps into Watson Personality Insights and Watson Conversation APIs to study our patterns and make predictions and recommendations about what you may want to do?or should do. For example, the system might remind a parent to pick up diapers based on his or her estimated travel time or provide restaurant recommendations specific to one’s tastes. Yes, there?s plenty of potential for this to become awkward. GM spokesman Vijay Iyer assured us, however, that while app providers have access to usersR...