Audi’s AI Revolution: Smarter Production and the Future of Driving

[Source: Audi]

Audi has been using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for years, and they are now incorporating the technology in more areas than ever before. The goal is to use AI to make work easier for employees as well as to drive innovation and efficiency.

Audi literally begins and ends with AI. But alphabetical antics aside, the company is adopting AI across all business units. “We are currently integrating AI wherever it is possible and makes sense and systematically scaling applications,” said Gerd Walker, Audi board member for production and logistics.

AI in Production

One key area is in the scaling of data. Driving innovation requires taking vast amounts of data and organizing it into a usable format. Audi’s current production environment already contains several hundred petabytes of data. One petabyte is approximately 1,000 terabytes. And thousands of gigabytes of new data are generated in the production environment every day. In the production environment alone Audi has more than 100 AI initiatives at various stages of maturity.

Another example where Audi uses AI technology is in rapid label analysis. Audi Intelligent Recognition and Inspection System (IRIS) checks labels on vehicles during assembly. AI scans the labels to ensure they contain accurate information and are properly placed. If any errors are detected the system will alert an employee. This saves a vast amount of time compared to having a human physically check every label on every vehicle.

AI is also used to inspect vehicles for welding spatter during construction. Like the label checks, this was previously a time-consuming task for humans. Now, AI alerts a worker of the issue so the worker can grind the spatter away, so it doesn’t become a problem. But Audi is not stopping there. In the next phase of automation, a robotic arm will take care of the grinding work as well.

AI Creativity

Analyzing data and checking for errors is important but AI can help with more creative tasks as well. Audi IT and Audi Design created a proprietary AI-based software called FelGAN. This software is used to generate a wide range of photorealistic wheel designs. It can create a design from scratch or combine the design elements from existing wheels. Human designers can also feed their ideas into the system for an even wider range of possibilities.

Using AI Responsibly

AI can be a game changing tool but like any tool it needs to be used responsibly. Audi is committed to the responsible use of AI through their Audi Code of Conduct. It is a foundational statement, a works agreement, a corporate AI policy, and a digital ethics framework. These documents define the ethical and regulatory principles that guide how AI is developed, used, and deployed at Audi. The company is currently establishing internal processes to fully meet the requirements of the EU AI Act. The EU AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive legislation for AI systems.

Audi is going all in with the integration of AI technology. But they are not going into it all alone. Audi relies on strong partners, especially within the Heilbronn digital ecosystem. The term “ecosystem” refers to the alliance of companies, scientific institutions, and the Innovation Park for Artificial Intelligence (IPAI). The IPAI is set to become Europe’s largest AI network and will begin constructing a 23-hectare campus in 2025. Audi has been a member of the IPAI since 2023.