Alexa is about to get much smarter.
Amazon’s popular personal assistant has already powered more than 600 million devices worldwide over the past 10 years, says the company – including its many Echo-branded smart speakers and Echo Show smart displays – but this cheeky chatbot is getting infused with a much bigger brain, more personality, and a memory that recalls your previous preferences.
Called Alexa+, tech journalists like yours truly recently attended “her” coming-out party, which includes several demos to showcase her improvement – mostly tied to recent advancements in generative AI (“genAI”) and large language models (“LLMs”).
“Every once in a while a technology comes around and changes literally everything,” Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Devices and Services Panos Panay said Wednesday at the company’s devices launch. “The creation of GenAI has shaken up everything.”
“Alexa+ now understands you, is more conversational and contextual, connects you to your favourite services and actually takes action,” Panay continued, while onstage at the NYC event. “She knows the devices you have, the apps you use, and brings it all together to help you get stuff done. It’s magical.”
Alexa+ will work with most existing Echo, Echo Show and Fire TV devices, but a new phone app and revamped web experience (Alexa.com) will compliment the hardware support.
First rolling out to some U.S. users in late March, followed by Canada and other markets at some point, the following are some examples of Alexa’s new capabilities.
EXAMPLES OF WHAT ALEXA+ CAN DO
According to Amazon, you only need to say the wake word “Alexa” once and then you can converse with your assistant as you would with a fellow human.
Some live demos from the event:
It remembers your tastes and distastes, allergies and more
Tell Alexa your food preferences, such as “I like Indian and Greek food” and perhaps “I’m also a pescatarian” and it can suggest relevant meatless recipes for you, takeout/food delivery options, or restaurant recommendations. You can say something like, “We also have a picky five-year-old coming to our dinner party, so what would you recommend?” (The answer may be chicken bites or pasta, along with recipes.)
If you tell Alexa you’re craving pizza and ask where should you order a pie from, it will search for nearby pizzerias and tell you the highest rated ones. She may add what the establishment is famous for (e.g. “best-known for its wood-fired 12-inch Neopolitan-style pizza”), and Alexa may ask you want it delivered now or later.
Build smarter shopping lists
Speaking of food, when creating a shopping list for groceries, in one demo the Amazon person reviewed the spoken items on a screen and said, “Actually, I’d prefer two half gallons of milk instead of a one-gallon jug as I find it lasts longer,” and Alexa will remember details like that going forward. Unlike the previous Alexa, the new Alexa+ is more forgiving if you stutter or say “um” or “uh” a lot, if you talk over “her,” change what you’re asking on the fly, and so on.
Have Alexa+ perform actions for you
Alexa can access your info, like a calendar and contacts, to perform tasks. For instance, Alexa+ may proactively alert you to a calendar conflict, such as your child’s dance recital at the same time as picking up your visiting father-in-law from the airport. Alexa+ may ask you if you’d like to send an Uber to the airport instead (and at what time) to bring him to your home, and send a text to him with the rideshare details.
Or if you upload, say, a party invitation to Alexa.com, your assistant will analyze the details of the invite and automatically put the party in your calendar.
Documents can be analyzed and summarized
Another example of document uploading: Alexa+ will remember what you’ve archived and refer to it. An example given by Amazon is if you move into a new home and upload a PDF of the HOA (Homeowner Association) rules for the community to Alexa.com, in the future you can ask Alexa+ if solar panels are allowed on your home, and you may hear a response like, “Yes, you’re allowed, so long as they cannot be seen from the road.”
Scrub through videos
In another AI-based demonstration, an Amazon Echo Show smart display recognized who walked up to it (without you even needing to say “Alexa” first), and the Amazon employee asked, “Did anyone walk Buddy today?” This particular Alexa+ knows the family dog is named Buddy and then scrubbed through Ring doorbell videos of any comings and goings of your beloved Bernedoodle, and shows you relevant video clips.
Similarly, you can ask if there were any deliveries today and it will only look for couriers. This is part of Amazon’s recently launched “Smart Video Search” functionality, currently in beta.
Magic for music lovers
At the New York event, Alexa+ was asked, “What was the name of that song from Bradley Cooper, it’s a duet, from that movie?” And Alexa+ immediately answered and played Shallow, with Lady Gaga, from the film A Star Is Born. The Amazon presenter then said, “Show me this part of the movie,” and a nearby Fire TV-branded television loaded A Star Is Born at the exact moment Cooper and Gaga began to sing together.
Unlocking kids imagination
Kids can ask Alexa+ to make up a story before bedtime. Children may also be prompted for more details like “make it about a peacock who plays electric guitar and wants to go on an adventure.” Without missing a beat, Alexa+ will generate and narrate a made-up story – that could be recalled at a later time if it was good enough – and even add generated images to compliment the narration on a device with a display (like an Echo Show 15).
A FEW MORE DEETS
Along with Alexa’s friendlier and more upbeat tone, if you’re talking with a smart display (opposed to a smart speaker), a flowing blue animation appears on the bottom of the device screen when Alexa responds, showcasing her more expressive user-interface.
Amazon also showed a series of new “widgets” on the Echo Show home screen, including ones that display animated weather info, suggested recipes, recent apps you’ve used, an ongoing shopping list, and connected smart home devices.
Alexa+ is optional.
While price isn’t confirmed for Canada yet, it will cost U.S. users $19.99 a month – but it will be free if you’re an Amazon Prime member.
– Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and the author of the book, Apple Vision Pro For Dummies (Wiley)