Gigantic touchscreens, illuminated virtual gauge clusters, physical buttons and switches disappearing, activating seat heating or turning up the radio volume becoming multi-step processes.. Welcome to the enshitification of automotive interiors. I mean.. the new Human-Machine Interface (HMI).
This complicated HMI trend will only get worse as time goes on. We’re already seeing dashboards that are just one giant house for long screens that go from the gauge cluster through the center stack and over to the passenger’s side. These will be more prolific, larger, and probably more curved. Automakers are clearly envisioning a future where every surface of the car’s interior is potential screen real estate. The better to serve you ads or collect your data with. They’re already coining stupid Tech Bro names for them like “Hyperscreen” and the like.
“Data is the new oil,” is a mantra in a lot of industries now. It’s become a big one in automotive as automakers try to figure out how to capitalize on gathering, owning, using, and selling your data. Today’s cars are becoming just like your smart phone, spying on everything you do and brokering that info to the highest bidder.
This trend will only get worse.
Artificial intelligence, the favorite buzzword of most industries right now, is also hitting automotive. Voice recognition and interaction, which I personally think is a great idea, will become more common (and needed) as those screens keep growing. Because only your phone is more distracting than your vehicle’s built-in screens. But those screens are catching up. Fast.
Being able to talk to issue voice commands and requests of the infotainment is an upside to AI in vehicles. It reduces distraction. But what happens when you can talk to the AI like you do a normal person and carry on a conversation or start quizzing it about the podcast you’re listening to? What happens when the AI becomes like the third-most distracting thing in a vehicle: passengers?
At least one automaker has already announced that ChatGPT is coming to their vehicles. Google has announced its Automated AI Agent for in-vehicle AI. And several automakers are already deploying or planning to deploy these or other AI options in their vehicles. It’s a race to the top of Big Data that’s been going on for years now as car makers rush to capitalize on user data.
And don’t think that the windshield is sacred territory. Head-up displays are the next big thing when it comes to bigger screen options. Just you wait. There’s already a “ticker tape”-style windscreen display that goes all the way across the bottom of the windshield, CNN-style. It will grow. It can’t help but do so.
“Your Speed Display, brought to you by Coca-Cola, is now 55 mph.”
The only people more imaginative than sci-fi dystopian writers are marketers.
This article originally published on the AaronOnAutos Substack.
