Car analytics and AI

(Image: chombosan/Shutterstock)

Today's cars are all about mobility -- not just the kind that transports people and things, but also data mobility. Today's cars are more connected, and they are generating a lot more data that car manufacturers are working to collect, process, and apply to AI developments.

When the average person thinks about the connected car -- whether it is fully automated or packed with sensors that alert the driver to possible dangers -- what comes to mind is the experience for the person in that driver's seat. In fact, the information the driver sees represents only a tiny fraction of all the data collected through the sensor system. The amount of data collected is indeed vast, and car makers are now working on ways to ingest and process it effectively.

Read more in 

Car Makers Drive Hard Towards AI Advances

Ford Aims for a Sustainable Supply Chain

Though virtue is said to be its own reward, that doesn’t hold true for business. Ford is very much aware of its image and the effect that can have on customer behavior. In fact, in its press release about making the World’s Most Ethical Company list, it states very clearly:  “Consumers placing increasing importance on ethics in business; recent report shows majority of U.S. learned more about a company before doing business; more than one-third opted not to do business with companies with negative reputations.”

What Ford says its customers want corresponds to what Nielsen published in a report this past fall, “The Sustainability Imperative: New Insights On Consumer Expectations.” It notes that “brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability have grown more than 4% globally,” in contrast to those that cannot make the same claims whose growth rate was under 1%.

from 

Committing to Ethical Standards for the Supply Chain

Related post: http://www.baselinemag.com/news/using-data-for-good-is-good-for-business.html

Oh the places you'll go and the stories your can can tell about htem

The main problem with the current state of in-car, location-based services is that they aren't required to notify consumers. It's possible that some motorists are completely unaware of who uses their location data, and how. Also, for four out of the six automakers, customers do not have the option to request that their historical data be erased. (The "right to be forgotten" is included in the EU’s data protection laws and recommended by the GAO.) Read more in 

In-Car Tracking: We Know Where You've Been

Getting to "just right"

It's not just Goldilocks who tests out what's too hot or too cold or too hard or too soft in the pursuit of what's "just right." RUTH is a robotic arm that does the same for car interiors, checking what is there against the data of what humans prefer. Read more about it here.