When Your AI-Enabled Car Finds Out You Want To Sell It: COTD

We live in a world of AI-enabled everything. “AI” is probably every company’s favorite buzzword, besting “dynamism” and “disrupt” for the term most likely to make an investor uncomfortably excited. Lots of people use AI every day, too, but do we really want it in a car?

I wrote about Mazda’s cutie, the Vision X-Compact concept car, but I also probably got irrationally upset over the idea that Mazda thinks its future should be AI. Commenters handled the rest. Sid Bridge wins the first COTD today:

Me: Let’s go to the Tail of the Dragon again!
AI Mazda: Here’s a map to Mordor.
Me: I’m talking about the one in North Carolina.
AI Mazda: I’m afraid there’s no Mordor in North Carolina. Shall I plot a course to Montauk instead?
Me: Montauk is in New York.
AI Mazda: Plotting a course to New York.
Me: No. We’re going to the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina.
AI Mazda: Plotting a course to Mordor.
Me: No. Jesus.
AI Mazda: Plotting a course to Nazareth.
Me: Carmax. Let’s go to Carmax.

NewBalanceExtraWide:

X for Cross, as it has made Mercedes very cross.

Unrelated joke from an old TV show. Two nuns are driving in Transylvania, and a vampire shows up in the road in front of the car. The driving nun slams on the brakes and tells the other nun “Quick, show him your cross.” The other nun winds down the window and leans out, shouting “Get out of the road you toothy git.”

NC Miata NA:

Mazda: Ever wonder what would happen if we crossbred a Fiat 500 with ChatGPT?

Everyone: What? No! Who the hell would ever think of that? Shut up and make Miatas.

DialMforMiata:

From Mazda’s perspective, the biggest flaw is getting your customers too emotionally invested in a product they desperately want you to trade in every three to five years. I can hear the conversation now… “Hey friend, I can’t help but notice you’re pulling into the Mazda dealer… is there something you, umm, want to tell me?”

Gurpgork wins my heart for a great Battlestar Galactica reference:

No fracking toasters in cars.

Perfect excuse to post this awesome scene:

Have a great evening, everyone!