Although some move more slowly than others, the majority of automakers are headed in the same direction and offering a fully connected, software-defined product. The central element is a back-end infrastructure offered via the cloud that can handle hundreds of thousands of cars and provide them with performance, entertainment, and safety features that differentiate them from competing vehicles. With each new model year, cars turn into extensions of cloud services, and this is where the wars will be waged.
Cars are now more characterized by computer automation than by horsepower or wheelbase, albeit slowly. Nowadays, the majority of performance improvements are accomplished at the software level; significant changes that call for mechanical upgrades are primarily a relic of the past. What will happen next? How will these developments help businesses? First of all, the cloud-based services that enable automobiles will start to become a major point of differentiation. For instance, Apple Car Play was such a useful feature that gave you yet another method to utilize your iPhone to listen to podcasts or send texts using speech recognition. These technologies now keep an eye on the driving systems, boost efficiency, and address safety concerns. What’s different now? Your car’s fundamental system will resemble your cell phone’s operating system in many ways. Unified systems will function in a shared operating environment as opposed to detached systems interacting to provide a driving experience.
In order to do more sophisticated “off-car processing,” the back end of the universal platform will connect to cloud providers. For example, it will analyze sensor data from cars to identify whether a repair event is likely to happen soon utilizing AI and petabytes of labeled data. It could even observe changes in your driving habits, which can be a sign that a health problem needs to be addressed. The important thing is that the vehicle will effectively transform into an edge computer, meaning minimal processing taking place on board in relation to the safe functioning of the vehicle. The more significant developments will take place mostly on back-end cloud service providers, which host enormous volumes of data and computationally complex AI and analytical systems. Self-driving vehicles that can transport cargo over vast distances and become a part of a supply chain that is more predictable and dependable will be advantageous for businesses. Additionally, maintenance and fuel expenses have to go down, and even vehicles operated by people ought to offer greater security, effectiveness, and comfort. If they still do, employees should be in a better attitude when they arrive at work. Accidents, driving-related injuries, and fatalities will be extremely rare. This could be wishful thinking, but it’s not that far-fetched.
