New Grab AI-powered call service aims to drive convenience for seniors
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Launched on Aug 5, Grab AI Call-A-Ride (Beta) enables ride booking through conversing with an AI voice assistant.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
- Grab has launched an AI-powered Call-A-Ride service to help seniors book rides easily by phone instead of using mobile apps.
- The service uses advanced AI from OpenAI to understand user intent, maintain conversation context, and handle English and Mandarin calls.
- Grab plans to expand language support and has improved the system with local voice samples and pilot testing for better accuracy and natural conversations.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Senior citizens who may find it challenging to use a mobile app to book their transport through ride-hailing platform Grab will now have an easier, more familiar solution: making a phone call.
In a media statement on Aug 5, Grab Singapore announced the launch of Grab AI Call-A-Ride (Beta), which is an AI-powered call service for booking rides.
Available via +65 3138 0000, this pilot service enables ride booking through conversing with an artificial-intelligence voice assistant.
Developed in collaboration with OpenAI and powered by its Realtime Voice model, the voice assistant is able to interpret user intent, maintain context, adapt mid-sentence and process bookings, unlike traditional automated call services, said Grab.
The service is currently optimised for English and Mandarin, and there are plans to expand to more regional languages, it said.
“The shift to apps... didn’t work for segments of our community who struggle with digital navigation – often some of the very people who need reliable mobility the most,” said Philipp Kandal, Grab’s chief product officer. “The Grab AI Call-A-Ride (Beta) seeks to bridge this divide. We are trying to bring back the intuitive simplicity of a voice call, backed by the flexible reasoning and scalability of conversational AI.”
Albert Yip, OpenAI’s head of technical success for Asia-Pacific, added: “Grab’s service shows what becomes possible when advanced AI is designed around the real needs of the people it serves.
“Our teams are helping make ride booking more natural and accessible for seniors.”
Prior to launch, the Grab AI Call-A-Ride (Beta) service underwent an initial trial with approximately 1,000 pilot calls with various demographic groups.
The feedback garnered enabled Grab to enhance the system’s speech recognition accuracy and also the pacing of conversations.
To enable the system to comprehend Singlish – the colloquial form of English commonly used in Singapore – Grab integrated over 100,000 voice sample donations that were collected locally to develop the service.
