Formula E’s electric race cars accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in under 2.8 seconds. In indoor settings, their GEN3 race car hit a record-breaking speed of over 218 km/h, while they can go even faster outdoors, up to 100 km/h more. In a new development, Formula E is working on implementing generative Artificial Intelligence, allowing drivers and fans to ask questions and receive answers during races, the company said in a statement.
One of the great advances in gen AI is that, for the first time, humans and computers can interact in natural language processing, or NLP. Computers can also command staggering amounts of data to handle a range of questions, along the way deriving unprecedented insights or creating new kinds of content.
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Formula E is a competitive street racing and highly technical, so putting the cars’ huge amounts of telemetry data from a large number of sensors into Google Cloud’s BigQuery could allow gen AI to provide a conversational interface, along with prior race data. Midway through a race, a driver in their car could engage with data — “What was the exit speed from turn 1 on lap 2?” — and have an instant answer that helps them on the spot. In parallel, a fan could also ask questions about Formula E, prior races and even live races.
The way Formula E traditionally looked at data was a little different from a modern business seeking all kinds of information about product performance, customer satisfaction, manufacturing efficiency, or the scores of other things currently handled by Business Intelligence systems. BI systems require a lot of training, can answer a few relatively highly restricted questions, and rely on fixed “dashboards”, which would limit the information that drivers or fans would want. Now with gen AI, it is possible to provide a conversational interface in the style of the needs of everyone.
The cars aren’t the only fast things when it comes to gen AI in Formula E. The GENBETA world record project was executed by a small group from Google Cloud, and McKinsey QuantumBlack, the consultancy’s advanced AI group, working with Formula E and their partners ABB, SABIC and Hankook, in less than two weeks.
According to the company, in the first race weekend, it successfully handled over 700 questions from fans who visited the stand for fans at the London Formula E event, with basic questions, and experienced aficionados looking for niche information like build changes between race car generations.
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By GlobalDataPowered by the large language models (LLMs) and other AI services in Google Cloud’s Vertex AI portfolio, the gen AI chat interface that was built for the GENBETA caters to both drivers and fans, with possible expansion at other events. The new conversational interface would allow teams to more quickly see and analyze data on their performance, and help fans get answers to questions about everything from build changes to track conditions. It could also make the racing more exciting and engaging for fans, getting a deeper understanding of the sport.
Formula E’s GENBETA partnership with Google Cloud is a shining example of how technology can be used to improve performance and make sports more exciting and engaging for fans.
