GM's OnStar gets an AI makeover — but humans will still answer when airbags deploy

GM executives confirmed to Business Insider that humans are still staffing OnStar call centers to handle emergencies.

General Motors GM says it's keeping humans in its OnStar call centers to help with emergencies.

It comes as OnStar is getting a fresh makeover, complete with AI.

"The stakes are too high," an exec told BI about the human-in-the-loop.

GM is giving OnStar an AI overhaul.

The automaker says it is not coming for the person who answers when your airbags deploy.

On Wednesday, during the company's tech conference, GM Forward, Ed Nightingale, GM's vice president of digital products, told Business Insider that the automaker would continue to use human OnStar staffers on emergency calls to contact first responders.

"That's something that isn't changing," Nightingale said.

"We feel that, when it comes to a crash or a problem being solved, they want to make sure that there's a human in the loop.

The stakes are too high." The company declined to comment on how long those call-center humans will be a part of its OnStar plans.

Humans-in-the-loop are a notable constraint on GM's AI ambitions.

Other AI-enabled companies, such as SpaceX, have recently highlighted how few customer calls are routed to humans.

It also comes as the company gives OnStar — its 30-year-old in-car emergency service — a much bigger job.

GM showed off OnStar AI on Wednesday.