自動運転車は動物と同じ！？ソニー・ホンダモビリティ川西社長がクルマの未来をアップデート | The Big Interview | WIRED Japan

Cars still have plenty of room to evolve.

With pets, you feel they understand you.

...the car as if it were a living being.

...as an extension of smartphones.

...as a means to align the physical world with virtual space.

Hello, I'm Matsushima, the editor-in-chief of WIRED Japan.

Welcome to The Big Interview,

where we explore future insights from visionaries and innovators.

Today's theme is How Mobility will Change Our Future.

Joining us in this first episode is

Mr. Izumi Kawanishi, President and COO of Sony Honda Mobility.

Thank you for coming. Thank you for having me.

I attended CES in Las Vegas earlier this year.

There, you introduced the AFEELA, an electric vehicle launching in 2025.

On stage, you suddenly pulled out a PlayStation controller.

Using that, you made the car appear.

To be honest, I thought it would seem more high-tech if we used auto-pilot.

Using a PlayStation controller turns it into remote control.

So you weren't fully convinced by that idea?

I felt it might be a bit too cliché.

Many of us associate SONY with PlayStation, Xperia,

and aibo, in which you played significant roles.

That's right.

Today, I'd like to hear your vision of the future of mobility.

Sure.

First, as an example, I'd like to use the AI technology ChatGPT

to talk about the future that already exists in our lives.

When I asked ChatGPT about the future,

it came up with a future we can all envision.

But I believe that the future is constantly being rewritten.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on a future beyond what we envision.

The first key area is technological innovation.

Today, we're at what is often referred to as Level 3 in autonomous driving.

ChatGPT predicted Level 5 full driving automation.

It expects the US and China to reach Level 5 in the early 2030s,

and Japan and Europe by 2035, so in about ten years from now.

The second area is experiential value.

Autonomous driving will revolutionize the way we utilize travel time,

turning cars into spaces for watching movies, gaming, and online meetings.

ChatGPT predicted that, in about a decade,

vehicles could become mobile living rooms and offices.

Lastly, social transformation.

As Mobility as a Service, or MaaS, and sharing economy becomes more prevalent,

it predicted that about 30% of our cities will have MaaS platforms.

So, those were ChatGPT's predictions.

What do you think?

Can Japan reach Level 5 by 2035? Or is it too soon?

Well...

Autonomous driving technology will continue to evolve.

However, we must consider how it will coexist with existing cars,

as not all cars will become autonomous immediately.

We need to understand the state of this mixed environment.

Otherwise, we can't fully envision

a future dominated by vehicles that can drive autonomously.

Actually, this mixed state is even more chaotic.

I once talked with a renowned architect about depictions of future cities.

He told me that those depictions lack construction sites,

which is unrealistic because cities are never fully complete.

Every city should have a construction site somewhere.

I think it's about how we perceive the timeline.

To me, the predicted advancements seem a bit too fast.

What does it mean for a car to have autonomy like in Level 5 automation?

And how will AFEELA achieve this?

While autonomous driving is advancing, many people still do not fully trust or

understand the technology enough to entrust themselves to the car.

Because they don't know exactly what will happen.

So the first step would be to build scenarios

where people can develop confidence in these systems.

Trust and mutual understanding are key,

similar to the relationship between humans and horses.

I think it's about communicating with the car as if it were a living being.

With pets, you sometimes feel they understand you.

You feel like your dog or cat can read your emotions.

Building a reciprocal relationship between humans and cars fosters trust.

[The Future of Mobility: Toward Full Driving Autonomy]

[Coexistence of existing and autonomous cars]

[Reciprocal relationship between humans and cars will foster trust]

Today, we all carry smartphones in our pockets or bags

and we sometimes forget it used to be just a phone.

It was an incredible expansion of our ability to communicate across the globe.

Over time, softwares were added,

which further enhanced the phones' capabilities.

Will cars evolve similarly?

The elements of a car are running, turning, and stopping.

In other words, mechanical performance.

We focused on developing its mechanical capabilities.

But we humans have more of an intellectual aspect.

I believe there's significant room for cars to evolve in that regard.

I drive to work, you know?

And I often brainstorm with ChatGPT while commuting.

For example, I ask What mobility companies are cutting-edge?

I find it easier to talk than type, so cars are great in that regard.

Currently, drivers can't take their hands off the steering wheel,

making cars the perfect place for voice interaction with computers.

So, the interface there will require

more AI elements that understand human spoken language.

Including its nuances and ambiguities.

Currently, when I'm conversing with AI in my car,

I'm communicating with a software that's installed on my phone.

In the future, will I be interacting with AFEELA itself

or will I just be talking to the AI functions within AFEELA?

Assuming that our conversation partner is something like an agent,

me and my team envision it to exist in the cloud.

I want that agent to be accessible even when I get out of the car and

regardless of whether I'm interacting with my smartphone or my computer.

Therefore, it exists in the cloud.

I see, so it's not that the car itself is an agent

but rather you have an AI assistant by your side.

And it recognizes when you get in your car and continues the conversation.

Otherwise, it would be quite an inconvenient assistant.

It's more useful if it knows things not just about the car

but also about your workplace and home.

If it knew what you were doing before getting into the car...

Yes, that would be more convenient.

The idea behind this setup is that

it would be better to have an assistant who can see the bigger picture.

[The Future of Mobility: Relationship Between Cars and AI]

[Voice interaction with AI inside cars]

[AI that understands inferences]

[AI assistant that exists in the cloud]

How does AFEELA conceptualize the idea

of future cars as platforms, or mobility as a platform?

We're creating something that

understands both, when you're in the car and when you're not.

So we're not focusing solely on the car being a platform.

In order to create a platform, I think it's more important to consider

how well it integrates into our daily lives.

It might be an extension of smartphones or a device in itself.

I think everyone has different apps installed on their smartphones

and arranges them differently.

I believe our platform will become something personalized like that.

You are partnering with companies like Microsoft and Epic Games.

What do you expect from these collaborations?

Using Microsoft's OpenAI technology,

we aim to deepen the relationship between AI and mobility.

As for Epic Games, they are a company that creates

a game engine technology called Unreal Engine.

Known for its strength in computer graphics,

we hope to leverage that expressive power for AFEELA.

We aim to digitize and sample the real world to depict it realistically.

In extreme terms, it will become closer to a digital twin.

I think Unreal Engine will contribute greatly

as a means to align the physical world with virtual space.

[The Future of Mobility: What New Experiences Will Bring]

[Cars as devices] [Personalized like smartphones]

[Cars will become a space that align the physical world with the virtual world]

The theme was the future of mobility.

Do you have any ideas that seem plausible?

Regarding mobility, a commonly cited example

is the world of Knight Rider, which has a somewhat sci-fi vibe.

Yes, in that, the car actually talks.

Back then, it was an envisioned possibility but something unachievable.

Now, it feels possible, right?

Yes, it does.

Bringing such concepts to reality is one possible direction we might go.

I see. Thank you.

Who will be the next visionary to appear and how will they update our future?

Stay tuned for the next episode.