According to him, the benefits of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT, which many people have spent recent months engaging with, should not blind us to the drawbacks such technology has. In particular, according to some estimates, ChatGPT is said to have emitted as much CO2 while the AI was being trained as 550 round-trip flights between New York and San Francisco. More generally speaking, let us not forget that digital industries now emit more greenhouse gases than the aviation sector!

Do we really need fully autonomous cars?

So how can we make sure innovation is not just a gadget but something that brings about real progress that takes into consideration people and the planet? This is a hot topic for the automotive sector, particularly with ongoing research into autonomous cars: “What for, and especially at what cost?” asked Luc Julia. In a 2021 report, the think tank La Fabrique Écologique described automated vehicles as: “an energy-intensive, polluting, resource and space-consuming, and costly enterprise that endangers public freedoms”.

“Level 5 autonomous vehicles [the highest level of autonomy, editor’s note] as promised by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is an aberration,” said Luc Julia. "It is unattainable because you can’t plan for absolutely everything that can happen on the road. It would be so technologically complex that it would be unaffordable for your average person.” Let’s set more “realistic” goals: “We are currently at level 2, and about to reach level 3. Let’s be happy if we can make it to level 4, as that will be sufficient to avoid about 90% of road accidents!”

A new innovation philosophy

Another example of technological innovation that is both useful and sensible is predictive maintenance in factories, which involves designing systems to detect machine failures and plan plant maintenance. “These are examples of quick wins; ideas that have an immediate impact without using up too much energy,” said Luc Julia. It is the sort of innovation that helps improve plant productivity by reducing the risk of having to stop production lines unexpectedly, while also improving working conditions.

Within Renault Group, this vision of innovation could be expressed as follows: “We innovate, but we do it with caution”, as put by Luc Julia. “We deploy technology where it will help, not only our customers, but also those who work here in the company.”

Always learning

This philosophy means building upon a set of environmental, social, economic and people-centric parameters. “These choices must be informed,” argued Luc Julia. “Once a decision is made, you have to be willing to back track if it doesn’t work out. It’s how you learn. Unlike the United States, France doesn’t really have a culture where you have the right to fail.”

In order to foster a 360-degree vision of innovation that combines expertise, there is nothing better than a multidisciplinary approach. “A real mix is very important for innovation, and for challenging ideas,” he said, advocating for teams made up of people from various disciplines, including those with no technical expertise.

Lastly, lessons learned must be accessible for those in the general public. Environmental awareness means choosing “a model that is less flashy, because you know it has a smaller impact on the environment,” said Luc Julia. He also thinks that clearly displaying the environmental impact of a vehicle being sold could be a way to give greater visibility to environmental issues. This already applies to car advertisements, which have had to clearly display their carbon score since March 2022. Now consumers just need to find other ways “to feel good” while “being frugal” — “to do more with less”. What if innovation had the answer?

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--  Renault Group