Where Toyota sees Yui adding value is in building a real...

Where Toyota sees Yui adding value is in building a real relationship with its human driver, however. Yui is designed to live in the cloud, and to transfer from vehicle to vehicle as an owner buys new cars (or uses car-sharing services). A demo video of Yui from Toyota envisions a man forming a 20-year bond with his own Yui assistant, with the AI knowing about his family, interests and personality very deeply.
Yui is probably still a long way from real-world launch; Toyota’s own Research Institute has said confidently that self-driving is still a long way off. Questions like how much and when to trigger relaxation in a driver definitely complicate this, and while Toyota told me that it’s done a lot of work to help Yui do both those things now, it’s going to take a while and a lot of study before they find the right, safe balance.
Still, Yui presents an interesting, unique view of what it might be like to live with a constant AI companion. The potential of an on-demand chauffeur that also knows what to do to help you relax while on the road is very intriguing. It’s also extremely weird to imagine making a lifelong, bonding friendship with automobile software – like having an advanced Tamagotchi that can zip you around at speeds of 60 MPH or more.