Mercedes-Benz’s Iteration of Alexa and Siri Is Heavily Flawed but a Step in the Right Direction
The A-class introduces a new infotainment system, Mercedes-Benz User Experience, or MBUX for short. (Which you pronounce M-B-U-X, rather than M-bucks, since the latter sounds like a Marlboro Miles promotion.) Its signature feature is its ability to understand conversational language, à la Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, or Google's Assistant. Benz's version of this technology is both embedded in the car as well as dependent on the cloud, so certain features always work while others require a data connection. Predictably, you wake the cyber helper by saying, "Hey, Mercedes."
While this parlor trick will no doubt wow in the showroom, we found the system somewhat limited. It did well in reporting baseball scores, but some simple commands, such as "Hey, Mercedes, turn off the radio," went unheeded. Crucially, when MBUX doesn't understand, rather than responding in kind, the pleasant lady just asks over and over again how she can help you. "Hey, Mercedes, it would really help me out if you could put a sock in it." Mercedes says the system's artificial intelligence will improve responses as it learns and that non-safety-related updates will be beamed to owners automatically. MBUX also supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which is the only way to get Spotify or Waze onto the car's display; third-party apps are not supported.
From the December 2018 issue
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