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Kia Expands Chatbox Helper for Car Buyers

Kia Motors Corp. has introduced an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant to help people who are shopping for new cars in the U.S.

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Kia Motors Corp. has introduced an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant to help people who are shopping for new cars in the U.S.

The program, called “Kian,” allows users to quickly research and get questions answered about all Kia vehicles on the company’s Facebook Messenger and Kia.com internet sites. Kian builds on the model-specific system launched late year for the Niro crossover vehicle.

Shoppers can interact with Kian to research and compare vehicle features, view photos and videos, search vehicle inventory at nearby dealers and get information about pricing, financing and special offers. Users can ask Kian specific questions on hundreds of topics—accessing and analyzing millions of vehicle data points—or connect with Kia's consumer affairs or a live chat representative.

Kia developed the system with CarLabs, a Los Angeles-based specialist in conversational commerce platforms. The carmaker says nearly 1 million people have accessed the NiroBot assistant since it was launched a year ago.

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