Amazon announces the availability in France of the free service for children Amazon Kids, which can be used with its digital assistant Alexa on Echo devices. A good way to ensure the digital protection of the youngest.
Voice assistants have quickly found their place in the daily lives of their users, to the point of sometimes becoming indispensable. They are used by the whole family to make calls, search the Internet, plan activities, listen to music or even make purchases with a simple voice command. However, they pose risks for the youngest, through access to the immense catch-all that is the Internet – and therefore to inappropriate content. Amazon Kids, a free service on Alexa, present on the entire range of Amazon Echo devices, is therefore very useful in creating a safe and friendly environment for children aged 3 to 12 years. And that’s good, the e-commerce giant has just announced its availability in France! Amazon Kids allows you to set limits on the use of Alexa, but also to offer personalized content to the youngest. In addition, it offers educational functions – to learn languages or discover mathematics, science or spelling for example – and entertainment – such as reading lists and mini-games. As explained by Gianmaria Visconti, Amazon Alexa Manager for France, Spain and Italy, “Technology, when used correctly, can play a positive role in the daily lives of families and parents, who want to be increasingly present in the digital discovery of their children. Amazon provides the tools to help them do so” .
Amazon Kids on Alexa: digital protection that helps children learn
Amazon Kids provides parents with many tools to help keep their children safe from the dangers of the Internet. For this, Alexa allows you to create a profile with voice and/or facial recognition for the youngest, which will set up certain limits. Thus, the voice assistant is enriched with a parental control panel allowing to filter the violent or explicit lyrics of songs on Amazon Music, Apple Music or Spotify, but also to impose a restricted time of use – on demand or according to defined time slots – and to block voice purchases – which avoids involuntary expenses. Another welcome feature: Alexa adapts to the language of children, taking into account poor pronunciation and the speed at which the little ones speak – which makes the voice assistant easier to use. Finally, younger users can make audio and video calls with contacts pre-approved by their parents – to work on their homework with their friends or say hello to their grandparents for example.
Amazon Kids also emphasizes educational and fun content. Children can ask Alexa questions to learn and arouse their curiosity, such as “Alexa, why is it cold?” or “Alexa, why is the sea salty?”. By recognizing the child’s voice, the voice assistant will adapt its responses to their level of understanding. Ditto for “personal” questions like “Alexa, what’s your favorite book?” – apparently it’s about The glory of my father by Marcel Pagnol. Tools are also available, such as personalized nursery rhymes, Radio France youth podcasts, stories, dictations, special playlists, mini-games, meditation and multiplication tables.
How do I create an Amazon Kids profile on Alexa?
To set up profiles for their children, parents must select Amazon Kids in the settings of the Alexa app – available on mobile, for Android and iOS. Then just follow the on-screen instructions to set up a voice and/or face ID. From then on, Alexa will automatically activate Amazon Kids whenever it is used by the child on an Echo device. To dedicate a device for the exclusive use of a child – such as their own tablet – simply go to the device settings on the application dedicated to the voice assistant – by going to the Devices section, by selecting the relevant one, then scrolling down to General. Note that the smart speakers intended only for children, the Echo Dot Kids – launched in 2018 in the United States – have not yet been announced here. The next step ?