When I was at this Toyota R&D center tour (more will come on that soon), I had a bit of an epiphany. I’m pretty certain it’s not the epiphany Toyota was hoping I’d have, but I’m not here to provide epiphanies for major multinational corporations. They don’t own epiphanies, at least not just yet. Anyway, this epiphany happened in the middle of a tech demonstration in a new Toyota showing off some of their new infotainment software. Specifically, the voice commands.
Now, I want to be clear that the epiphany I had covers all cars that use voice commands and not just Toyota. In fact, the updated software Toyota was demonstrating worked quite well and incorporated some thoughtful features, like how their AI assistant now runs on the hardware inside the car, instead of sending all requests into the cloud, for improved speed and, even more importantly, privacy.
The demonstration was given to me by a member of the voice team, and she did a fantastic job of showing the software. My epiphany had nothing to do with her, I want to make that clear. She just happened to be there at the moment it happened.
This was my epiphany: voice controls in a car are, for the most part, useless. They’re a tech gimmick, something that we thought we wanted for so long that once we got it, we can’t admit to ourselves that, really, we don’t care. Here’s my question: does anyone actually use the voice commands in their car?
Actually, I maybe should qualify this a bit. I think voice commands sometimes make sense when it comes to using the nav system, and asking it to take you somewhere, because in most in-car nav systems, it’s a pain to do otherwise, and it commands a lot of your focus and attention. So, I’ll admit that voice controls for that one particular thing makes sense. But for almost everything else? I don’t understand the appeal.
Take changing temperature, for example. You can say something like “Hey Toyota, I’m hot,” and then the car will lower the HVAC temperature. If you meant that you’re hot in the context of how sexy you are, that information will be lost on your car, so sorry about that. It’s not you.
When the basic “I’m hot/lower temperature” exchange is written out, it seems almost reasonable, but in practice? It’s awkward and stupid. It’s not exactly quick, and it’s definitely not any easier than just reaching over to the climate knob or buttons and turning the temperature down a few degrees. You can usually even do it while talking about something else to another person in your car or while listening to music or whatever. You just kind of do it, almost without thinking.
But when you have to tell your car to do something like that, you have to address the car, pause as it recognizes the attention word (or you hit a button to make it start listening) and then tell it you’re hot or cold or reduce/raise the temperature or whatever, then wait for it to acknowledge that, repeat what it did back to you, and then change the temperature.
Or you could just turn a little knob a few clicks.
Don’t believe me? Here’s that situation in action:
It actually works fairly well, considering, but it’s still a slow ass-pain compared to just moving the big temperature-control knob that is right there. The same thing goes for voice commands for almost any physical control in the car, like adjusting the volume. Using the knob is always quicker and easier and less obtrusive than talking to your car and asking it to do it.
Here’s another example, in a Kia, for turning on heated seats:
Here you have to remember to say “seat warmer” instead of “heated seats,” which it doesn’t understand. And, again, while this technically works, there’s a button right there that you don’t have to ask to do anything. You just poke it and make it do your bidding, which, in this case, is gently warming your ass.
I can’t fathom the point of any of these voice commands. They make nothing easier. They take tasks that you can do while listening to music or talking or thinking about something – all while focusing on driving – and turn them into a an irritating little conversation with your car that forces you to pay attention in ways that just instinctively pushing a button or turning a knob don’t. Sure, you may not be doing anything physically, but mentally getting your car’s attention verbally and asking it to do things is far more distracting than letting muscle memory guide your hand to a knob.
If you really want to hate voice commands, and perhaps even the very concept of speech itself, and maybe even all of humanity, you can watch this Volkswagen voice command instructional video, which combines an inane script and cloying acting direction to make an experience about as annoying as walking around with your underpants filled with cat litter and marbles:
I’m so sorry. That was terrible. And confusing. And stupid. And it sure as hell didn’t make me think I really need or want to tell my car any commands.
Again, for navigation, okay, I can see how voice commands have some use. Fine. If you’re connecting a phone with CarPlay or Android Auto, then you likely have that feature already. But I think if every automaker announced that all of their unique voice commands would be gone tomorrow, hardly anyone would really care.
Maybe I’m wrong here; maybe there are people out there who really love using voice commands to adjust volume or temperature or to open tailgates. Maybe they have valid reasons, like, say, they’re legally blind drivers or something like that. It’s certainly possible. But I’m really skeptical.
I think voice commands are the sorts of things that, if used, get used during the first few months of ownership of the car, and then are promptly and happily forgotten about, because they don’t actually make life any better. Maybe we can call this experiment in voice controls a success, quietly mothball it, and move on to more important and interesting things.
How’s that sound to everyone? If it’s cool by you, just focus on your computer, say “Hey Autopian, to hell with voice commands,” and that should do it!
Top graphic images: DepositPhotos.com; Toyota
On the button note, our Mitsubishi went all in on buttons, like literally every function in the car there’s a button for that and most of the infotainment. That’s a button to turn off the lights coming on when you open the doors, that’s the level of buttonness and I’m all for it.
Don’t get me started. I have two Fords with Microsoft SYNC integrated with them. If there is ONE thing that Microsoft can stay out of and avoid lowering the bar further just by being associated with it, automotive voice commands should be in the same junk box in the back of the closet as Clippy.
Voice commands in this system are as useful as a screen door on a submarine. It literally NEVER understands you, and goes into a tirade of all the things it DOES understand, including the command you just attempted.
“Hang up phone”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. You can say…”.
BTW – I have Apple phones, and they REALLY don’t behave with SYNC, likely by spiteful design. For example, I need to reset the music source as ‘Bluetooth Audio” EVERY TIME I GET IN THE CAR. Even if it was actively playing when I turned the car off. WTAF
I have had voice commands in both my Honda minivans. It didn’t really work in either one. The problem, as you note, is remembering what terminology is in it’s library– heated seats vs seat warmer vs heat the seat etc. Why should we have to remember the exact flowchart of actions to make the thing work? It’s a system only a programmer could love.
We need a GIF of Scotty in Star Trek IV shouting at the mouse. “Computer!”
Typical tech: this cool idea comes out, everyone jumps onboard, then the people using it realize they just don’t need it. Making calls while driving might be easier when I can get the phone to recognize/hear me, but often it’s frustrating enough, it would’ve been quicker to pull over, dial it, and keep going. Adjusting temperature? Forget it. AI assistants in cars are overrated.
Yeah if they can convince you voice is better they can just stop putting buttons in entirely!
Voice commands for Apple Carplay are fantastic, but anything relating to the vehicle itself is worthless. In Carplay my CX-30s voice button activates Siri, which I use for navigation and calling and Texting. It’s literally just Siri, so it’s as good and bad as Siri is, but importantly that means it’s consistent with what I already know how to use, so I can rattle off texts, start navigation, or start calls by just pressing a steering wheel button. I truly never need to touch my phone while driving because of this and it’s phenomenal.
I think that’s the key: people have their phones on them essentially all the time, so ppl who use Siri have had years to become comfortable with it. You spend much less time in your car. Even a voice command “power user” is only going to have reason to tell their car to turn on the rear wiper to medium speed a few times a month. If you were really committed you could memorize all the prompts, but why bother? Which means for almost everyone, almost all the time, you’re guessing and getting frustrated.
proud member of the “funny accent” brigade, can confirm that voice recognition works for crap if you don’t have a generic North American accent.
I mean I’m not like those Scots in an elevator so it could be worse…
Absolutely agree. I have heard people claim to use voice commands all the time but I am suspicious. I have dabbled here and there and always come away thinking, gosh I will just do it myself.
I can’t say I’ve ever even invoked Siri in the car. It’s just easier to push the buttons before starting my journey.
I’m such a Grumpy Old ManTM I don’t even use Siri in general. IT was cute for a few days, but just like talking to my car, it was just tedious and slower than just doing the thing.
My wife has an Alexa device in our kitchen. She mainly tells it to start timers when cooking. She asked me why I use the timer on the microwave instead. Told her I’m not interested in having relationships with AI until we get to the point that I have R2-D2.
I think the only time I use mine is to tell me how many tablespoons are in a quarter cup. And then I get annoyed we use an arbitrary and unintuitive system of measurement that requires me to ask my phone such things.
The sum total of useful voice commands:
“Navigate [address]”
“Call [name]”
I never have said, and don’t think I ever will say anything else directly to my car (that I expect it to understand, anyway).
“Call Mom”
“Do you want to call MOM on cell or home?”
“Home” <waits 10 seconds for phone to ring>
“Do you want me to call MOM on cell or home?”
“Home”
“Do you want me to…”
<immediately turns off BlueTooth and manually dials phone in exasperation and against the laws of the state>
I always feel like a giant dork using voice commands, even if I’m alone. If there’s someone else around, it’s exponentially worse.
The 2021 Ford had no owners manual, just a bunch of worthless videos on the center screen. One of the videos said I could use voice commands such as “Hey Ford, raise the temperature”. So I tried it. Everything I tried from lower the volume to turn on the defrost resulted in the car saying “I don’t understand, try something like ‘Hey Ford, raise the temperature’”. Therefore I assumed that raising the temperature was the only command they had programed in.
Totally agree with you, but I don’t use voice commands for any of tech.
I am stuck using them for some items. For example, my car has a heated steering wheel. But there is no physical switch for it. I can either wade through several menus and try and find the damn button on the screen, or say, “Hey Mercedes, turn on the headed steering wheel.” Of course, on the cars that do have a button I use it. But sometimes you’re forced into using these voice controls.
That seems to be the real reason here. Automakers went to huge touchscreens, no buttons, and function buried in menus.
So, the solution was either to go back to a simple button… or…
they could add even more expensive layers of tech to enable voice commands!
They’re reinventing the wheel, only worse, more expensive, more prone to failure, and calling it an upgrade.
I Googled and my 2023 VW Tiguan SE does have onboard voice commands, but they are mostly for the onboard things that I use Android Auto for – directions, phone calls, etc.
Though apparently, I can press the voice button on the steering wheel and use a voice command to lower the volume on the radio. Why i would do that instead of just using the volume control button that’s already on the steering wheel is beyond me, but I guess optional interfaces are a good thing?
We don’t have cell phones, so we don’t stream music – we use USB flash drives for our music playlists.
The wife’s 2015 Cruze 2LT RS has a little microphone button on the steering wheel that we can use to ask for songs. If we say, “Play ‘Satisfaction‘ by The Rolling Stones”, it will look through the playlist(s) on the flash drive and play that song if it is available.
That’s pretty cool for an 11-year-old car.
Wow, no cell phones must be quite a way to live. Not criticizing, just remembering life in the 1980s. Seems peaceful.
Very peaceful and relaxing.
No cell phones?!?! How do you take a dump?
The magazine rack next to the toilet! I still remember the bathroom reader series.
Who DOESN’T want to handle books that live exclusively next to the toilet?
That’s where I read my monthly Hot Rod magazine.
That was where I used to read my monthly Hot Rod magazine.
Unfortunately, bathroom magazine racks aren’t enough to save the dying print media. I used to keep Automobile and Hemmings Classic Car in the home crapper-rack. Alas…
Despite how much Clarkson et al absolutely would make fun of voice control on Top Gear, my understanding is the largest market that demanded voice controls was not only Europe, but specifically the UK at the time.
I’ve not specced it in any car I’ve ordered, and even though I think other car has it, I’ve never used it, nor intend to.
The largest market for voice controls is China by far. For some reason, the Chinese absolutely love yelling at their cars for every function (including things like volume up or down and on new models even fucking turn signals), your car is not competitive there if you can’t do everything but work the steering wheel and pedals with voice commands.
I think my car has them? I don’t know. I’d never, under any circumstances, use them anyway. I don’t find adjusting climate controls, turning on my seat heater, etc. to be taxing situations that I’d rather talk to a machine about than do myself. I see this as tech for tech’s sake, and words cannot even begin to communicate my level of disdain for tech for tech’s sake.
We are way, way, way past the point as a society that anything new from the tech overlords is going to drastically improve my day to day life, so I do not care. At all. This also seems like another opportunity for manufacturers to try to cut costs and make cars even worse. “Oh, you don’t need buttons! Just say HEY *car* FOR EVERYTHING!”
No thanks. I’m also almost 100% sure that using this shit means consenting to the manufacturer listening to your conversations whenever they want and selling all of that info to the highest bidder. I’m sure it won’t be long until you say something like “huh I could use a new lawnmower” in the car and then as soon as you start it up next time Amazon has a pop up ad for you about a mower thar’s conveniently on sale.
No thanks, get off my lawn, death is inevitable, eat at Arby’s.
I didn’t even realize my car had that feature until a friend and I started talking about the band Hey Mercedes and my car got very confused. Tech for techs sake is the perfect description of this slop.
Here’s the evolution:
One day you’ll be able to control your car just by talking to it!
Phase I: Wow! As long as I don’t spend 2 seconds thinking about it, the future sounds amazing!
Phase 2: OMG My car can talk! Hey Fred come over here and watch me roll down
thea window by talking! <gets out manual to look up correct phrasing>Phase 3: Ok this sucks but it’s Gen 1. The future is still bright!
Phase 4: We’re in the future. It’s worse in every way. But I hear just a few more years before they bring back buttons.
It’s cute how you’re assuming they’re not already sending all your conversations to their cloud even when you haven’t activated the voice command thingie.
No carplay and no car screens here; I have used voice commands on google maps on my phone a few times to add a stop to my drive and it worked fine. Other than that it seems like way more hassle than it’s worth imo.
I had a rental Corolla for a few weeks one time and I noticed that you could “teach” the voice control to recognize the way you speak by repeating some lines to it.
I decided to teach it with a very stereotypical Australian accent (no offense meant, just having fun) so any future renters in Canada would have a hell of a time using the system.
I do not have wireless Carplay, so I use the voice commands for making calls and for navigation when I forget to plug my phone in.
I fully agree that voice commands are only really useful for phone features like nav, music and call/text, in which case they’re built into Carplay/Android Auto (and into the phone itself), where they actually work with some semblance of fluidity.
If any feature endemic to the vehicle is harder/less intuitive to control by hand than by voice, that’s just bad interface design, and the interior designer should be retired like a racehorse with a broken leg.
Respectfully, I don’t agree, Jason. There are a few things stood out to me.
Sure, I am probably the anti-pattern, but I do have an annoying trait (on which my therapist and I are working) wherein I like to preserve my right to indignation.
Sounds like your therapist has a lot of work to do.
If you’re talking to your car, you’re also not focused on driving.
I would argue that it is the least intrusive. Even a hand off the wheel to find the button, let alone looking to verify the button/knob, is more intrusive than asking siri to play songs I like.
As it stands, I don’t talk to my car; the most I do is set the maps destination before I leave and let it talk to me.
I also fully expect few would agree with me.
I agree they’re useful for navigation. The one other spot I like them for is reading incoming texts or sending brief outgoing ones without taking your eyes off the road.
But yeah, in most (or possibly all) other contexts, they’re surely less useful than (plot twist) actual buttons.
For most functions that have a physical switch, I’d rather use the switch, unless the switch is poorly designed or even more of a distraction. I had to get used to voice commands for other things, which has slowly given way to appreciation.
Navigating isn’t the only useful application of voice commands. My daughter has figured out how to “Ok-google-play…” for music. Now, I don’t have to do it!
When we’re 45 minutes from home in the winter and we want our ancient steam heat to kick in, I just press a button on the wheel and say a thing and my house will be warm. (Thanks also to Nest.) Physical buttons in my car to control home heating over the IOT would be weird.
And now, this fails every time, but it’s the one thing I’m rooting for AI to be able to do effectively for me one day: “Find me a ______ restaurant on route ______ with nearby fast charging.”
Google assistant just can’t with that.
Edited for typo.
But wouldn’t you rather it be smart enough to see you are navigating to your house and know to turn on the heat? Or even to see how far away you are from home and know when to turn it on so it reaches the target temp by the time you get there? If there was an easy way to program routines like that, I’m all for it.