- Gordon Wagener believes his successor will be a machine that’ll cost less than his salary.
- Mercedes-Benz won’t be ditching steering wheels and gear shifters for the foreseeable future.
- Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize much of the automotive industry.
Mercedes-Benz’s chief design officer has suggested that artificial intelligence could make car designers obsolete in 10 years. Gordon Wagener made the statement while recently speaking at an event for the new Mercedes-Benz Places apartment complex in Miami, and it spells bad news for those looking to crack into an industry undergoing a huge transformation that’s being led by electrification and emerging new technologies.
For as long as automobiles have been around, designers have played an instrumental role in distinguishing one vehicle from the next and giving cars their own individual identity. As more cars shift to electric powertrains with few differences between them, the job of designers could become more important than ever. However, according to Wagener, his successor will be a machine.
Read: You Can Talk To The New Mercedes CLA Thanks To Google AI
“We work with AI now,” he told ABC News. “You get 99% of crap with AI and sheer quantity. That’s the biggest problem – sorting out the good stuff from the bad. But you get 1% good stuff and we keep learning. It’s getting better every day. AI will drastically change the way we design. I think in 10 years maybe most of design will be done by AI and it will make designers obsolete. My successor will be a machine and will be much cheaper than my salary.”
While there’s no denying that AI promises to shake up many industries, it remains to be seen just how well it will be able to design a car that appeals to the wishes and desires of humans. Perhaps we’re not ready for it, but can a machine really inject personality into a car the same way a designer can? I suppose we’ll find out over the next decade.
During the same interview, Wagener said that Mercedes-Benz will continue producing cars with physical controls for the foreseeable future, noting that creating fully self-driving vehicles remains extremely expensive and is still like “science fiction.”
Asked if Mercedes will make a car without a steering wheel, or a gear shifter, Wagener said “Probably at one point but I don’t see it in the near future. We will always have a steering wheel… at least in the foreseeable future. With increasing autonomy, the car becomes more of a living space. The car of the future is not a smartphone on wheels, it’s going to be a ‘smart home’ on wheels.”
