Grab has announced a collaboration with OpenAI with an aim to improve the experiences of the superapp’s users, drivers, and employees using artificial intelligence. The Singaporean tech giant said that this is first partnership of its kind for OpenAI in the region, with a focus on three key areas for Southeast Asian users.
Firstly, the company plans to use AI-powered text and voice capabilities to make its services more accessible to all users. It will particular improve accessibility to those who are visually impaired and the elderly, who may find it difficult to navigate through the Grab app’s UI.
Grab also wants to use AI to build better support chatbots that can better understand customer problems and resolve them faster. Speculatively, more automation for its services could lead to a layoff similar to what we saw last year. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski recently bragged about how OpenAI’s chatbot allowed his company to fire 700 customer service agents, so it wouldn’t be crazy to assume that’s where Grab is headed.
The most exciting improvement that could potentially come from the partnership is better maps on the app, as the company says that the automation and higher quality data extraction from visual images can lead to faster updates for GrabMaps. An initial pilot will see ChatGPT Enterprise being deployed for the superapp’s employees.
(Source: Grab Press Release)
