"GOT IT" -- Rivian Assistant a bit annoying

[Owner]

The assistant repeatedly likes to use the term "Got it" when unnecessary and kind of in a strong voice. In regular life, people only use this expression after coming up from a fog of confusion.

And sometimes the assistant seems to want you to respond when the conversation has ended and says "remote service unavailable"

In general I'm finding I like the Rivian Assistant more than most other AI products. I think part of it is using a voice while driving is actually efficient and safer. I in particular like asking questions about where I am driving -- some 'local area trivia' and some detailed restaurant reviews.

Sponsored

 

[ENVErider]

Have you already dialed back the interaction by setting "chattiness" to minimal and natural interruption, and turning off keep listening? I'm not certain what all my settings are today, but I do recall tuning some of these settings, and my experience has improved.

 

[Noplacelikeloam]

I agree with all of this. Voice is absolutely the right interface while driving, and asking about local history, restaurants, or whatever mysterious roadside object your children have just spotted is exactly where an assistant like this can be genuinely useful.

My issue is less with the idea and more with the execution. Rivian Assistant currently feels like someone installed the entire future of artificial intelligence on a server in New Jersey and then asked my truck to contact it using one bar of AT&T.

“Hey Rivian, turn on my heated seat.”

“Got it.”

Long pause.

Spinning circle.

Satellite attempts to contact civilization.

“Remote service unavailable.”

Thank you. My butt remains cold, but at least the truck has acknowledged the strategic intent.

And that “Got it” is delivered with extraordinary confidence. It’s the voice of someone who has finally understood the plot of Inception. Unfortunately, what it has “got” is usually a very basic instruction that has not yet been completed.

The cloud dependence is the part I find hardest to understand. For restaurant reviews or local trivia, of course it needs the internet. But basic vehicle commands should happen locally, immediately and reliably. Instead, we have an adventure vehicle whose artificial intelligence becomes unavailable at approximately the same moment the adventure begins.

On the interstate near a Starbucks: “I can provide a detailed cultural history of this region.”

Thirty miles into the Cascades: “I’m sorry, I’ve never met this vehicle.”

That is an unusual product decision. Rivian has built a truck that can cross rivers, climb rocks, power a campsite and accelerate like it has stolen something—but its digital assistant can be defeated by a hill standing between it and a cell tower.

Perhaps the next software update could rename it “Rivian Suburban Assistant.” It would remain available anywhere you could reasonably receive DoorDash.

The latency makes the whole interaction feel even stranger. You ask a question, wait long enough to reconsider whether you needed the answer, begin reflecting on the direction of your life, and then suddenly hear:

“Got it.”

By then, I’ve got it too. I’ve pulled over and used my phone.

I genuinely want this to succeed, because voice control is safer and potentially far more useful than digging through touchscreen menus. But in 2026, “sometimes understands you, provided the cloud is reachable” doesn’t feel like a minimum viable AI product. It feels like an early technical demonstration that accidentally wandered into a production vehicle.

The future R2 hardware is apparently intended to support much more local processing and offline operation, which is encouraging. It also quietly confirms the problem: Rivian knows low latency and offline functionality matter. Current R1 owners have simply been invited to participate in the historical reenactment of why they matter.

So yes—I like the concept, and I can see why people enjoy it when it works. I would just prefer an adventure-vehicle assistant that accompanies me on the adventure, rather than staying behind in cellular coverage and wishing me luck.

 

[FreddyFugazi]

The more I try to use rivian assistant the more I dislike the rivian assistant. Trying to get it to do anything with the nav system is an exercise is frustration, and half the car functions I would like to use are either un-implemented or consistently inconsistent.

The last time I tried to use the navigation it went like this:

"Hey, Rivian. Navigate to 23 Smart Street in Denver Colorado."
. . . 10 seconds of spinning. . .
"OH WOW!"
. . . 10 seconds of spinning . . .
"Sorry, I can't find 23 Smart Street."
. . . 10 seconds of spinning . . .
*stops listening*

Then I pull up the nav search and start typing "23 Sm" and the address I wanted was the 3rd result




The other thing I keep trying because it worked perfectly ONCE and then never again is:
"Hey, Rivian. Tune to the local NPR station on the FM radio"

It will do one of three things usually:
- nothing
- tune to a radio station but not the right one
- start reading a fact sheet about the local npr radio statio

Sponsored