Amazon has just unveiled Alexa+, his new virtual assistant doped at AI. A tool that promises to revolutionize home automation and the use of connected objects, but which is also likely to be very indiscreet.
The release of Chatgpt artificial intelligence in November 2022 has created excitement on the Internet, but also in the digital and technology sectors. The merciless war engaged between the Gafam. However, Amazon seems to have been delayed. The company has never hidden its desire to bet on Alexa, its intelligent vocal assistant which is integrated into Echo products, to compete with other generative artificial intelligences.
Introduced in 2014 and embarked in more than half a billion devices around the world, Alexa had to undergo a nice facelift to respond even better to the tens of millions of interactions at the time she already ensures. But this new version, announced in 2023, is more than waiting! After several reports, the new assistant, obviously doped at artificial intelligence, finally arrives under the name of Alexa+. And to assist them better, he will absolutely know everything about his users!
Alexa+: a wide range of natural language controls
The new competitor of Chatgpt and Gemini was presented with great fanfare During a presentation in New York. “More useful and more accessible. Now, Alexa+ is no longer content to answer questions, she understands them, their context with, the habits of the user too. She knows how to adapt to the personal and/or family environment, to the tone of voice even”Enthuses Panos Panay, head of Amazon’s hardware. There is no longer any need to learn “Alexa language“, Voice commands to the word necessary to obtain an answer, because the voice assistant now includes natural language.
The answers will be generated from two major language models (LLM), Amazon Nova and Claude, the IA of Anthropic with whom the company has established a partnership. Alexa+ will select the most suitable AI model to respond to user requests. The assistant will be able to book restaurants or find specific passages in a film. She can also summarize texts, analyze a document or simply discuss a subject.
In addition to these rather basic functions, Alexa+ can interact with “Tens of thousands of services and devices”such as Grubhub, Openingable, Ticketmaster, Yelp, Thumbtack, Vagaro, Fodor’s, Tripadvisor, Amazon, Whole Foods Market, Uber, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Roborock, Philips Hue, etc. The group also indicated that it had made agreements with several press groups, including the Washington Post.
Alexa+ will also be able to understand the context of a user, including their emotional state, and respond accordingly. It can generate extremely personalized responses or actions. “For example, if you plan a dinner for the family, Alexa+ can remember that you like pizza, that your daughter is vegetarian and that your partner does not eat gluten, to suggest a recipe or a restaurant”explains the tech giant.
Alexa+: a virtual assistant at the heart of home automation
Thanks to this important ecosystem, the virtual assistant can control several devices with a single order. Because Amazon has great ambitions for the domain of the connected house. Alexa+ can easily configure connected objects, operate them in concert, install routines, all from a simple voice command. For example, it will be enough to say at AI that we are hot to trigger an adjustment of the thermostat of the house, or to ask if the dog was released during the day so that it consults the images of the connected cameras to make sure.
All this greatly facilitates access to home automation and offers a place of choice to Amazon in this area, while Matter, the protocol which unifies all the objects and vocal assistants so that they can communicate indifferently with each other, experiences an increasingly important deployment, including within the devices of the company of Jeff Bezos.
All this looks very promising on paper, but you should not fear for the confidentiality of your personal data, because Alexa+ really has access to everything! Generative AIs like Chatgpt and Gemini are already known to be real data vacuum cleaners, to the point that it is recommended not to entrust them with sensitive information – especially when they are asked to analyze documents. With Alexa+ and its integration in its ecosystem, Amazon will have access to absolutely all the life of users, deep in their intimacy. And it’s very worrying …
To take advantage of the virtual assistant, it will be enough to interact through an Echo device. It will also be accessible via a new web portal and a mobile application. However, we will have to be patient because it will only be available in the United States from March. No date has been announced for international launch. To access it, it will be necessary to spend $ 19.99 per month or be subscribed to Amazon Prime – the AI will be available for no supplement. A way to integrate it a little more into the Amazon ecosystem and always know more about you!