Automotive Engineering - April 2024 - 19

WCX 2024:
Come for the AI, stay for the optimism
SAE EVENTS FEATURE
A designer tests the new
AI technique at XD: Toyota North
America's Experimental Design Studio.
AI top of mind at SAE's annual technical mobility conference.
by Sebastian Blanco
T
he never-ending task of wrapping one's head around the
auto industry continues at SAE's annual WCX technical mobility
event in Detroit in April. A series of keynotes will discuss
the growing impact of generative AI on the auto industry,
why automotive workers have reason to see the upside of working
alongside AI and how drivers will interact with AI in their nextgen
vehicles.
Jeremiah Golston, senior vice president and head of Automotive
Engineering at Qualcomm, said he foresees heavy interest in generative
artificial intelligence at WCX 2024.
" The new era of AI is here, and edge-based generative AI will play
a critical role in transforming the cabin to deliver powerful, efficient,
private, safer and more personalized experiences to drivers and passengers, "
Golston told SAE Media. " Specific challenges I expect to be
discussed include scaling and extending GenAI across the cloud,
edge and device. "
Golston said his keynote presentation will address the rapid expansion
of both the amount of data a car collects and the compute power
required to process all that information in the car. Qualcomm's solution,
he said, is to embrace the AI era and collaboration opportunities
with OEMs and other " ecosystem partners " to get generative AI applications
into production vehicles using the Snapdragon Digital Chassis.
" Vehicles are now computing platforms powered by scalable and
upgradeable cloud-connected hardware and software platforms,
with generative artificial intelligence being one of the most exciting
innovations we're seeing come to life in the car today, " he said. " I
hope attendees leave my keynote with a better understanding of the
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
critical role of central compute architectures, cloudnative
development, and GenAI, along with a vision
for how these elements will continue to come to life in
the future vehicle cockpit. "
Toyota Research Institute's
positive outlook
The senior director of the Human Interactive Driving
division at the Toyota Research Institute (TRI),
Avinash Balachandran, will give another of the main
keynotes at WCX this year. The TRI's HID division
works on creating AI-driven capabilities and tools that
will let people interact " more effectively and naturally "
with their increasingly automated vehicles.
Balachandran identified two main challenges with AI
that he plans to address in his presentation, one focused
on the workforce interactions with AI and the
other on the IP, ethical, and regulatory concerns that
come about when working with AI.
" TRI believes that AI has the power to amplify rather
than replace people, " Balachandran told SAE Media. " This
is rooted in the core Toyota philosophy of 'Jidoka' or human-centered
automation. The research examples I will
present from TRI are focused on amplifying human capabilities
and allowing people to focus on high-value-added
work that they can do for themselves and for society.
April 2024 19
TOYOTA
Automotive Engineering - April 2024

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