Has the dog been for a walk?

Alexa becomes an AI chatbot with a personal connection

(Bild: Jhon - stock.adobe.com)

Following the hype surrounding AI chatbots, Amazon is now drawing the consequences and launching a new generation of its Alexa assistance software. What sets it apart from the others is that it is aware of the user's everyday life or their home.

Amazon sees the future in so-called AI agents that can independently carry out multiple tasks on behalf of users. The Alexa platform has been completely rebuilt on a new technical basis for the new version, emphasized Amazon manager Daniel Rausch.

One advantage compared to other programs is that Alexa knows contacts, appointments and habits, says Amazon's head of devices Panos Panay. This should make it more useful. The new Alexa can also recognize the user's mood and respond to it.

Amazon calls the new version with more AI functions "Alexa+". It will be free for customers with Amazon's Prime subscription. Otherwise, Amazon wants 19.99 dollars a month for it. The new version will initially only be available in the USA. It is not known when it will be available in German. Amazon only states that the software will be gradually introduced in all countries where Alexa is currently available.

Flexible smart home assistant
The new voice assistant should also make controlling devices in the connected home more natural, Panay promised. For example, you can tell Alexa to play music throughout the house, but not to wake the baby - the software will then skip the speaker in the children's room.

There are also new possibilities in connection with the security cameras from Ring, another Amazon company. Alexa can be asked questions about what has happened around the house in the past few days, such as whether parcels have been delivered or whether someone has walked the dog.

"AI agents" as the future
In conversations, it should also be possible to reserve a table in a restaurant - and even book a ride there. For such functions, Alexa will be connected to the services of various apps - and will become a standardized user interface.

Chatbots make Alexa look old
Alexa has been installed on more than 600 million devices to date, explained Panay. And in the past year, the use of the assistance software has increased by 20 percent. Amazon was a successful pioneer in voice assistants with Alexa - but the linguistic skills of the new AI chatbots put the software in the shade.

Other AI chatbots worked well - but they generally had no context about users' everyday lives or their homes, Panay emphasized. This is the gap that Amazon wants to fill.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy pointed out that costs quickly mount up when generating AI content on a large scale. This is why the company has developed its own AI chip, among other things. Amazon uses AI to compile customer reviews and manage its logistics centers, for example.