Controlling the Lexus LC 500 Convertible by voice is a sign of things to come

I like the voice they use in the Lexus LC 500 Convertible. I felt like I was in a James Bond movie, driving a luxury car around (sadly, with the top closed because fall had arrived). The voice responds to the prompt “Hey Lexus” and lets you control three main features in the car.

The first one I tried is climate control.

You can press a voice activation button or say “Hey Lexus” and then ask the car to lower or raise the temp. I tried saying “raise the temperature by one degree” and that worked as expected. You can also ask the LC to adjust to a specific temp.

The Lexus LC 500 Convertible also lets you talk to the bot about directions. I asked about a local pizza place in my area, and that worked perfectly — I drove right to the restaurant and enjoyed the pizza with family members. Navigation has been a central part of cars like this for years, but I liked how the bot seemed responsive and understood what I was asking.

The last voice activation is related to music. You can ask the Lexus bot to switch to a specific sat radio station or an FM or AM station. The voice used for these interactions is distinct enough from both Siri and the Google Assistant bot that you feel like you are talking to the car, not your phone. In fact, what’s nice about the Lexus bot is that you don’t even need a phone connected.

That seems to be a trend lately. GM cars currently rely more on a built-in Google assistant and not your phone. I see this as a trend that will continue into 2025 and beyond where the AI in cars is offered by the automaker and we don’t even need to bring our phones along. It was the first time in a long time that I relied on the car navigation system instead of Apple CarPlay.

Where could it go from here? I’ve written about AI in cars several times in the last year or two, but I firmly believe 2025 will be when the automakers really start to innovate. I know a few carmakers have launched ChatGPT already, but I see this expanding into more makes and models very soon.

Being able to converse with a bot could lead to distraction, but could also make us more productive as we drive. Imagine asking a bot to make a task list and email it to your coworkers, or dictating an entire document as you drive. It’s somewhat possible with an iPhone using Siri and Apple Intelligence, but my hope is that we start relying less on phones in cars.

The Lexus bot in the Lexus LC 500 Convertible is a clear example of how it all could work, and thankfully the voicebot responded accurately during all of my testing. It’s been around for a while, but seems prepared and ready for the coming AI revolution.