Setting aside promises of fully autonomous vehicles, many of today’s vehicles are equipped with driver assistance technology aimed at making trips safer, less monotonous, and more enjoyable.

These Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are becoming increasingly common across all types of makes and models. Tech Brew recently had the opportunity to test out GM’s ADAS, Super Cruise, after the automaker offered a chance to get behind the wheel of its 2024 Chevy Silverado EV RST for a few days.

Super Cruise 101: GM introduced Super Cruise in 2017 and has expanded its availability over time. It has been available on 400,000 miles of major highways in the US and Canada, and GM now is in the process of expanding it to some 750,000 miles, including smaller highways.

The system is enabled by an array of radars, cameras, GPS, and lidar map data. There also are internal cameras that use infrared lights to track whether the driver is paying attention.

That’s important, because Level 2 systems require constant supervision by the driver. The technology enables partial automation—the system can steer, accelerate, brake, and change lanes. But the driver must be prepared to take over at any time.

Keep reading here.—JG

Automakers are increasingly offering plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as a best-of-both-worlds solution for the electric-curious who aren’t quite ready to commit to a car that runs solely on battery power.

But consumers don’t appear to be sold on the technology. That’s one of the takeaways from a new JD Power report that homes in on what the authors call the “plug-in hybrid paradox.”

Amid a slowdown in EV demand that has prompted automakers across the industry to pare back plans to go all-electric, many car companies are leaning into hybrids. This strategy also helps them meet tightening environmental regulations and aligns with new tailpipe emissions standards that go into effect later this decade.

PHEVs are available across dozens of makes and models, from the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid to the Ford Escape to the Hyundai Tucson, and automakers like General Motors have said they plan to reintroduce them into their lineups.

Conventional hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs, pair an internal combustion engine with a small battery and an electric motor. PHEVs rely more heavily on the electric power, and switch over to the engine when the battery is running low; as their name suggests, topping up the battery requires plugging them in.

Keep reading here.—JG

It’s a matter of days before American voters go to the polls, and there’s been some debate over whether the “AI election” has actually come to pass.

Major presidential campaigns don’t seem to be terribly interested in the technology as an electioneering tool, according to the New York Times, unlike races in a few other countries. But a swirl of online misinformation around an especially brutal hurricane season has showcased how damaging AI’s ill effects can be on the media ecosystem. And companies and state agencies continue to warn about malicious interference from foreign actors.

We’ve rounded up some of the recent headlines on this front below in the latest (and potentially last) occasional roundup of AI and election news.

• Hurricanes Helene and Milton spawned a storm of misinformation around weather-based conspiracy theories and relief-effort falsehoods, some of it aided by AI content. Sensationalized AI images and video of flood damage went viral on social platforms.
• OpenAI said in its latest report on election interference this month that it has disrupted more than 20 influence operations worldwide attempting to use its models so far this year, including some aimed at the United States.

Keep reading here.—PK