Tech
Amazon’s famous assistant just got an AI boost
Alexa is now more capable than ever thanks to generative AI and can now perform a whole new set of tasks.
Amazon’s Echo devices have been around for a while now, and while at first they felt like the future was here, they quickly showed the limitations of Alexa too. But we are living in the era of AI and this was as logical as a match could get, so Amazon presented the next generation of their assistant: meet Alexa+.
While Alexa was one of the best assistants of the lot, if not the best, Microsoft, Google, and Apple had all started to develop AI into theirs, and it was obvious for Amazon to do the same, so here it is: Alexa+ is now a more natural conversation partner, can help better with organization, learning, entertainment, and even work.
She gotchu
This means that the users no longer have to speak only basic commands to her; she can understand almost any kind of language, like expressions, metaphors, or even philosophical rants. She will learn about the users who engage with her and provide a personalized experience, like remembering that you love pizza and punk music, while your wife likes pop better and your daughter may be more inclined to eat sushi.
This might even sound scary for some, but she can go to the extent of knowing if you need to fix something at home, going online on her own, finding the best service, and scheduling a visit for it to happen, all without supervision and just coming back to inform the user that it’s taken care of. But I must admit that it sounds nice whenever a good concert is coming for which it can get difficult to get tickets; she can remind you or do it by herself.
Smart home? How about some brains for it
Alexa can also manage your smart devices, connecting to them to enhance the experience that the users already know. It’s now even easier to ask for her to play some music, even if it’s in French, light up the room with a mood for dinner, and maybe afterward set up the TV in the other room to move there and watch a show.
If you forget to walk your dog, she can be proactive and remind you, or you could ask her if anyone in the household has done it, and she will check the cameras to confirm before letting you know if you have to do it.
Workin’ for a livin’
If the users want, they can train Alexa+ to help them with work by deepening her knowledge with documents, emails, pictures, and other relevant files. She can then put up deadlines in your calendar, you can ask her to create or transform a document into another or even turn a text into a song.
Alexa+ will cost $19.99 per month, but it will be free for Amazon Prime Members and she will still work with third-party hardware and software. This new feature will be launching in an early access period in the next few weeks, for owners of an Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21, and later on for the rest of the devices.
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