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Toyota to Build Artificial Intelligence-Based Driving Systems in Five Years | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Gill Pratt, Toyota Executive Technical Advisor and CEO of Toyota Research Institute, speaks during an group interview in Tokyo, Japan June 17, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai


Toyota Motor Corp is planning to develop in the next five years driver assistance systems with artificial intelligence (AI) in order to improve vehicle safety, according to the head of its advanced research division.

Gill Pratt, CEO of Toyota Research Institute (TRI) said it aims to improve car safety by enabling vehicles to anticipate and avoid potential accident situations.

This month home rival Honda Motor Co joining other global automakers which are investing in robotics research, including Ford said it was setting up a new research body which would focus on artificial intelligence too.

By the time today driver assistance systems largely use image sensors to avoid obstacles including vehicles and pedestrians within the car’s lane, Pratt said TRI was looking at AI solutions to enable “the car to be evasive beyond the one lane”.

“The intelligence of the car would figure out a plan for evasive action … Essentially (it would) be like a guardian angel, pushing on the accelerators, pushing on the steering wheel, pushing on the brake in parallel with you.”

Pratt also added that he saw the probability that Toyota could be making future robots to help the elderly. However he refused to comment on the report that Toyota is in talks with Google’s parent company Alphabet to acquire Boston Dynamics and Schafts, both of which are robotics divisions of the technology company.