What’s Coming in 2026.15 Update, Including Rivian Assistant

[Ralph]

That's hovering around a straw man argument. The reality is that a rear passenger could turn up the volume to max and distract the driver so they carine into a tree. The front passenger could surprise the driver by turning on the AC to its highest fan setting causing them to swerve into a group of cyclists. Hell, Tesla still let's you open the sunroof FROM THE APP OF A PERSON NOT EVEN IN THE CAR.

At some point, reason has to trump the lawyers. I'm totally on board with @VSG saying if Rivian gave you the power at the touchscreen level (and buried behind extra button presses in most cases no less), then there's no logical, logistical, or safety reason to gatekeep them from voice control.

Lastly, It's mostly about eyes up, hands on. I'm asking Rivian to help me be a better driver. I'm also asking them to not handicap me on a 6 figure car with a monthly subscription.

I'm not trying to make a straw man argument. How exactly am I exaggerating or distorting your position?

Neither AC nor audio directly affect the driver. Yes audio could be a HUGE distraction. Agreed. But could we agree this is not the same as mirrors folding in when changing lanes or headlights being turned off (for example)?

BTW - I'm not sure I don't agree with you entirely, but considering why Rivian might (not) do something doesn't seem irrational (to me).

Anyway, carry on; drive safe and good luck!

Sponsored

 

[mkhuffman]

I'm not trying to make a straw man argument. How exactly am I exaggerating or distorting your position?

Neither AC nor audio directly affect the driver. Yes audio could be a HUGE distraction. Agreed. But could we agree this is not the same as mirrors folding in when changing lanes or headlights being turned off (for example)?

BTW - I'm not sure I don't agree with you entirely, but considering why Rivian might (not) do something doesn't seem irrational (to me).

Anyway, carry on; drive safe and good luck!

Your points are valid. I don't think the voice control system needs to control everything that has a physical or virtual button.

IMO the purpose of the voice control system is to reduce distractions when driving. There are things you can do on the display that you should not do when driving. Sure you can still do them, but I don't think a voice control system should be able to control things like moving the seat position. Or turning off the headlights. Or turning on the hazard lights and turn signals.

RA is not precise, and it can make a mistake. Just like any other AI.

 

[Supratachophobia]

I'm not trying to make a straw man argument. How exactly am I exaggerating or distorting your position?

Neither AC nor audio directly affect the driver. Yes audio could be a HUGE distraction. Agreed. But could we agree this is not the same as mirrors folding in when changing lanes or headlights being turned off (for example)?

BTW - I'm not sure I don't agree with you entirely, but considering why Rivian might (not) do something doesn't seem irrational (to me).

Anyway, carry on; drive safe and good luck!

I'm recanting slightly. Just noticed that there is a wake word setting. I think it's reasonable for anything that's deemed safety related to require a physical button push to interact with the assistant. That way you don't have random passengers or conversations triggering potentially distracting/unexpected actions.

 

[Supratachophobia]

This is really interesting. Just picked the car up from service and asked it again what my range would be at 80 miles an hour, and it actually started to give a very broad estimation that wasn't entirely specific to my current driving dynamics, but wasnt the simple number on the dash reading that it gave me last week.

this is notable because it shows that the LLM can improve without discreet firmware updates to the car.

 

[tmbm50]

More obscure, the better.

"Warm my scapula."

This works! Seat heat turned on.

 

[Zoidz]

Your points are valid. I don't think the voice control system needs to control everything that has a physical or virtual button.

IMO the purpose of the voice control system is to reduce distractions when driving. There are things you can do on the display that you should not do when driving. Sure you can still do them, but I don't think a voice control system should be able to control things like moving the seat position. Or turning off the headlights. Or turning on the hazard lights and turn signals.

RA is not precise, and it can make a mistake. Just like any other AI.

It does some physical control. I tried "Open Liftgate" today. RA responded to verify the request. I forget exactly what it said, but it was something like "Please confirm you want to open the liftgate" . I said yes, and it opened. It also closes with no verification request.

Sponsored