August 02, 2025
By JamRadio Tech & Culture Desk
Before Siri spoke, before Teslas drove themselves, and before smartwatches buzzed with alerts — there was KITT, the Knight Industries Two Thousand. And there was Michael Knight, the leather-jacketed lone crusader who didn’t just fight crime — he previewed the future.
A Show Ahead of Its Time
Premiering in 1982, Knight Rider wasn’t just an action TV show. It was a technological prophecy. The show imagined a world where a man could speak to his car through a wristwatch, receive real-time updates, and command an artificially intelligent autonomous vehicle with radar scanning systems, weapons detection and advanced communications — long before dial-up internet was even a household word.
“Knight Rider foresaw a world where machines weren’t just tools — they were partners,”
says Warren Boutin of Scifi Dimensions, who credits the show with blending Western hero tropes with emerging tech optimism.
Smartwatch Communication — Decades Early
Michael Knight’s wrist communicator was essentially a smartwatch — complete with voice commands, two-way communication, and remote-control functions. In an era when mobile phones were bricks and pagers were cutting-edge, this was pure sci-fi. Today, Apple Watches and Android wearables mirror that functionality — minus the turbo boost.
Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) speaks to KITT (an Ai powered assistatant built into his car) via his wrist watch
Autonomous Driving & AI Companionship
KITT wasn’t just self-driving — he was self-aware. The car could:
- Navigate roads autonomously
- Scan environments using radar-like sensors (a precursor to LiDAR)
- Engage in complex conversations
- Make ethical decisions
Modern vehicles now boast lane assistance, adaptive cruise control, autonomous driving and AI-powered voice assistants — all echoes of KITT’s capabilities.
Intelligence Without Internet
Perhaps most astonishing: KITT operated in a world without cloud computing or mobile networks. His intelligence was local, embedded, and vast but depended on systems updates via pit-stops — a concept now revisited through connected edge computing and onboard AI in autonomous systems.
Video Calling & Surveillance
Episodes featured two-way video calls, facial recognition, and remote surveillance — long before Zoom, FaceTime, or Ring doorbells. KITT’s dashboard was a command centre, foreshadowing today’s smart home integrations and vehicle infotainment systems.
Advertisement
Cultural Legacy
The show’s creator, Glen A. Larson, drew inspiration from Westerns and spy thrillers — but layered it with technological optimism. Michael Knight wasn’t just a vigilante — he was a symbol of human-machine collaboration, a theme now central to debates on AI ethics and autonomy.
Knight Rider didn’t just entertain — it inspired engineers, futurists, and dreamers. From Elon Musk’s neural networks to Apple’s wearable tech, the DNA of KITT runs deep.
Follow us on:
