Configuring a new car, especially a Porsche, is a thrilling and exciting experience for everyone. It's not every day you get to place an order for a brand new Porsche 911 Turbo or all-electric Taycan. Automakers have recognized that customers often like to personalize their vehicles to varying degrees, though not quite to the extreme (and pricey) customization level of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Porsche has just launched a new function for its online car configurator that some buyers are sure to find extremely useful. Introducing the new "Recommendation Engine," a function that uses Artificial Intelligence to help buyers narrow down the billions of potential build combinations. It only requires a fraction of a second to do so.

Porsche says the new tool utilizes several million data points from the online configurator and is then implemented by over 270 machine learning models known as neural networks. By using algorithms to find data patterns, the AI is better able to predict the right options for individual customers based on their own choice. Initial tests have shown an accuracy rate of above 90 percent. The Recommendation Engine, like AI in general, self-optimizes with fresh data and will continue to improve over time.

"We're using this technology to create a truly personalized online experience where we display relevant equipment options," said Axel Berger, Porsche's Project Manager in the Advanced Analytics and Smart Data department.

"No two users will receive the same recommendations." The automaker further clarifies that it goes to great lengths to ensure customer data protection and privacy. For now, the new AI configuration tool is available to customers in the US, Germany, China, the UK, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Additional countries and regions will be added later. Eventually, this should be available worldwide.

Interested in trying it out? Simply go to the configuration page for any Porsche model and click on the light bulb at the bottom of the page.