LAS VEGAS (dpa-AFX) - This year's CES technology trade fair shows: You can start preparing for a future in which home appliances or cars talk to users in full sentences. At the same time, providers of artificial intelligence software want more data at all times so that their assistants can understand the needs of users. However, the companies promise to store the information particularly securely.

My car talks to me! And my stove too!

Volkswagen is integrating the popular chatbot ChatGPT into its vehicles. The software, which can form sentences at the linguistic level of a human, will be available in the in-house voice assistant IDA, the car manufacturer announced at CES on Monday. The first vehicles with the function will be on display at the technology show.

ChatGPT will be available in several production models from the second quarter onwards. The idea is to make communication with the car more natural and to allow Volkswagen's voice assistance software to help with more questions beyond the operation of vehicle systems. VW says it will be the first volume manufacturer to install ChatGPT in series production vehicles. Competitors are also looking into this.

At CES, South Korean electronics giant LG held out the prospect of home appliances such as stoves being able to give users instructions in full sentences rather than as notifications.

Everything in the home collects data for AI

LG wants to use data from hundreds of millions of devices in households on a large scale so that AI software can better meet the needs of users. While AI programs are often optimized with data from the Internet, LG has the "unique opportunity" to use information from everyday life, said CEO William Cho. This will "of course" only happen with the express consent of the user, he qualified.

Cho said that the interactions with various technology in the household could be used to draw conclusions about behavioral patterns and the mood of people, for example through their tone of voice and facial expressions. This kind of data gives us a better understanding of what users need and want. Personal data is to be processed directly on devices in households and given special protection. LG also wants to open up its smart home platform to other providers.

A few years ago, the chip giant Intel quickly rejected the idea of a television that could use a camera to detect the number and mood of people in the room and adjust the program selection as an invasion of privacy.

Small robots roll through the house

LG and Samsung also came up with the idea of providing people in the household with a small robot - which can also collect context for AI assistants. The "AI Agent" from LG is equipped with cameras and other sensors and can therefore explore the house and communicate with the residents. For example, it can deliver necessary medication in the morning, greet residents at the front door when they return home and call emergency services if necessary, LG explained. After four years, Samsung presented a new version of its spherical mini-robot "Ballie". Thanks to its cameras, it can help to create a 3D plan of the home, which should make it easier to operate a networked home. The device now also has a projector that can display images and information on the wall or ceiling. Ballie can also keep pets occupied with overlays on the floor.

Electric car drives itself to the plug

Bosch and VW are having electric cars automatically drive to a charging station and top up their batteries on a trial basis. The vehicles then look for a free space in the parking garage on their own. Bosch and Volkswagen's software subsidiary Cariad see the idea as a solution to waiting times in front of the charging stations. The system would also eliminate blocking fees for drivers who do not drive their cars away quickly enough after completing the charging process. Driverless charging is being tested in Bosch's development parking garage in Ludwigsburg. The charging cable is plugged in and unplugged by a robotic arm. German companies showed in Las Vegas that they are leading the way in future technologies such as autonomous driving, digital and climate-friendly mobility solutions and artificial intelligence, said Federal Minister of Digital and

-Transport Minister Volker Wissing /so/DP/mis