The paid version of Alexa should arrive in October! Called Remarkable Alexa, its capabilities will be increased thanks to artificial intelligence. To take advantage of it, you will need to subscribe to a paid subscription different from that of Amazon Prime.
Since they arrived in our homes, voice assistants have become very useful, even indispensable. Thanks to their technologies, they allow you to instantly answer a question or control connected objects in the home using only your voice, without even using a keyboard or remote control. Although these tools were initially only available on smartphones, they have ended up developing and taking up residence in our homes: televisions, speakers, headphones, robot vacuum cleaners, etc.
Today, Alexa, Amazon’s intelligent voice assistant that is integrated into Echo products, has gained the trust of users. Embedded in more than half a billion devices worldwide according to the Seattle giant, Alexa will undergo a whole new facelift in the coming months. Indeed, Amazon is developing a new paid version with generative artificial intelligence, whose code name is “Remarkable Alexa” or “Project Banyan”. Initially, the launch of the assistant boosted by generative AI was supposed to take place in August, but things have been delayed. Also, according to documents obtained by the Washington Postthe launch window would have been postponed to October.
Remarkable Alexa: a more advanced but paid version
As a reminder, David Limp, head of Amazon’s devices division, had already suggested that Alexa could become chargeable in order to cover the excessive costs of artificial intelligence. As revealed Business InsiderAmazon was working on an even more advanced version of its star voice assistant. The American company wanted to develop a new, even more powerful version, called Alexa Plus at the time. Thanks to generative artificial intelligence, the voice assistant had to be able to give more precise and succinct answers, but only for customers who subscribe to the paid subscription.
As a result, there would be two versions of Alexa: a free Classic Alexa, with basic AI, and Remarkable Alexa, a much more powerful voice assistant for which you would have to pay a monthly subscription of around $10 per month. Be careful, this paid formula would not be included in the Prime subscription.
“We’ve already built generative AI into various components of Alexa, and we’re working hard to implement it at scale – in over half a billion ambient, Alexa-enabled devices already in homes around the world – to enable even more proactive, personal and trusted assistance for our customers.”an Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement.
As envisioned, the paid version could perform more complex tasks like composing and sending a short email or ordering food from Uber Eats, all with a single request. It could also eliminate the need to say “Alexa” multiple times during a conversation with the voice assistant, offer greater personalization, and allow for routines to be created by observing users’ habits, such as turning on a guest’s coffee maker when their alarm goes off.
According to sources from the Washington Post, the new version of Alexa will integrate a personalized news summary tool called “Smart Briefing.” Suffice to say that, with the American elections coming up in November, the AI had better be on point and not “hallucinate”! The connected assistant should also prove useful in the kitchen to find recipes adapted to everyone’s diets, and offer new functions for conversational shopping, such as getting alerts in the event of discounts for example. Finally, it should be able to chat with children on any subject thanks to the “Explore with Alexa 2.0” mode.
Remarkable Alexa: a bet that is far from won
This is a desperate attempt by Amazon to keep up in the AI race and make Alexa profitable. Indeed, the company’s “devices” division suffered a loss of $25 billion between 2017 and 2021. However, sources from Reuters admitted last June that they had trouble understanding why customers would be willing to pay for a service, even a revamped one, that is offered for free today. In addition, the e-commerce company has faced false starts in AI development and various problems.
Last January, we learned that Remarkable Alexa had been tested with 15,000 customers and the results were not entirely convincing. Indeed, even if Alexa Plus communicated more fluidly and naturally with its users, its responses were too long and not yet precise enough. In addition, there are reportedly differences of opinion internally. Some Amazon employees believe that the voice assistant should remain completely free. The bet is therefore far from won…