LG Electronics Researcher Lee Cheol-hee: AI-Defined Vehicles Cannot Let Models Control Everything

At the BlackBerry QNX Technology Forum Korea 2026 held in Seoul, South Korea, LG Electronics researcher Lee Cheol-hee presented a specific assessment: vehicle software is transitioning from 'Software-Defined Vehicles' (SDVs) to 'AI-Defined Vehicles' (AIDVs). In the past, manufacturers pre-developed fixed function combinations such as sleep mode and comfort mode, pushing them to users via over-the-air (OTA) updates. Now, passengers can state their intent using natural language while driving, and the in-vehicle AI interprets this intent in real-time to combine the necessary functions.

Lee Cheol-hee provided an example: if a driver says, "The child behind me is asleep, don't wake him," the AI must independently determine whether to adjust lighting and temperature, lower the volume, and mute navigation prompts. This is not about specifying individual parameters but conveying a purpose.

The problem arises when the AI is responsible for both judgment and execution. To achieve the goal of "creating a quiet environment," the AI might inadvertently turn off safety warning sounds or emergency braking alerts. Lee Cheol-hee warned that AI models should not be allowed to control all vehicle actions because the vehicle interior is a "mixed-criticality" environment where safety-critical systems coexist with general convenience features.

His proposed solution involves having LG's Piccolo platform handle flexible upper-level judgments, while Canada-based BlackBerry's QNX real-time operating system handles deterministic lower-level execution. QNX is designed to ensure commands complete within a fixed time frame, guaranteeing that safety functions receive priority computing power even when convenience features heavily consume resources.