amazon alexa

everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28

Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28

If that’s not enough to deter you from sharing voice recordings with Amazon, note that the company allowed employees to listen to Alexa voice recordings. In 2019, Bloomberg reported that Amazon employees listened to as many as 1,000 audio samples during their nine-hour shifts. Amazon says it allows employees to listen to Alexa voice recordings to train its speech recognition and natural language understanding systems.

Other reasons why people may be hesitant to trust Amazon with personal voice samples include the previous usage of Alexa voice recordings in criminal trials and Amazon paying a settlement in 2023 in relation to allegations that it allowed “thousands of employees and contractors to watch video recordings of customers’ private spaces” taken from Ring cameras, per the Federal Trade Commission.

Save recordings or lose functionality

Likely looking to get ahead of these concerns, Amazon said in its email today that by default, it will delete recordings of users’ Alexa requests after processing. However, anyone with their Echo device set to “Don’t save recordings” will see their already-purchased devices’ Voice ID feature bricked. Voice ID enables Alexa to do things like share user-specified calendar events, reminders, music, and more. Previously, Amazon has said that “if you choose not to save any voice recordings, Voice ID may not work.” As of March 28, broken Voice ID is a guarantee for people who don’t let Amazon store their voice recordings.

Amazon’s email says:

Alexa voice requests are always encrypted in transit to Amazon’s secure cloud, which was designed with layers of security protections to keep customer information safe. Customers can continue to choose from a robust set of controls by visiting the Alexa Privacy dashboard online or navigating to More > Alexa Privacy in the Alexa app.

Amazon is forcing Echo users to make a couple of tough decisions: Grant Amazon access to recordings of everything you say to Alexa or stop using an Echo; let Amazon save voice recordings and have employees listen to them or lose a feature set to become more advanced and central to the next generation of Alexa.

However, Amazon is betting big that Alexa+ can dig the voice assistant out of a financial pit. Amazon has publicly committed to keeping the free version of Alexa around, but Alexa+ is viewed as Amazon’s last hope for keeping Alexa alive and making it profitable. Anything Amazon can do to get people to pay for Alexa takes precedence over other Alexa user demands, including, it seems, privacy.

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amazon’s-subscription-based-alexa+-looks-highly-capable—and-questionable

Amazon’s subscription-based Alexa+ looks highly capable—and questionable


Alexa+ will be free for Prime members, $20/month for everyone else.

NEW YORK—After teasing it in September 2023 and reportedly suffering delays, Amazon today announced that its more capable and conversational version of Alexa will start rolling out to US Prime members for free in the next few weeks.

Those who aren’t Prime subscribers will be able to get Alexa+ for $20 a month. Amazon didn’t provide a specific release date but said availability would start with the Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 smart displays.

Amazon is hoping Alexa+ will be a lifeline for its fledgling voice assistant business that has failed to turn a profit. Alexa has reportedly cost Amazon tens of billions of dollars over the years. Although Alexa is on 600 million purchased devices, per remarks CEO Andy Jassy made at a press conference on Wednesday, it’s primarily used for simple tasks that don’t generate much money, like checking the weather. Exacerbating the problem, generative AI chatbots are a new, shinier approach to AI assistants that have quickly outperformed what people could do with today’s Alexa.

By using the large language models (LLMs) available under the Amazon Bedrock service and technology from Anthropic, as well as Amazon Web Services, Amazon has re-architected Alexa to, per demos Ars saw today, be significantly more useful. From its demonstrated speech and ability to respond to casual language (that doesn’t include saying the “Alexa” prompt repeatedly), to its ability to perform actions, like book dinner reservations or put appointments in your digital calendar, Alexa+ looks way more capable than the original Alexa.

Alexa+ in action

For example, Amazon representatives showed Alexa+ learning what a family member likes to eat and later recalling that information to recommend appropriate recipes. In another demo, Alexa+ appeared to set a price monitor for ticket availability on Ticketmaster. Alexa+ told the user it would notify them of price drops via their Echo or Alexa.

I also saw Alexa+ identify, per the issued prompt, “that song Bradley Cooper sings. It’s, like, in a duet” and stream it off of Amazon Music via Echo devices placed around the room. The user was able to toggle audio playing from Echo devices on the left or right side of the room. He then had Alexa+ quickly play the scene from the movie A Star Is Born (that the song is from) on a Fire TV.

Notably, Alexa+ understood directions delivered in casual speak (for example: “can you just jump to the scene in the movie?”). During the demos, the Echo Show in use showed a transcription of the user and voice assistant’s conversation on-screen. At times, I saw the transcription fix mistakes. For example, when a speaker said “I’m in New York,” Alexa first heard “I’m imminent,” but by the time the speaker was done talking, the transcribed prompt was corrected.

I even saw Alexa+ use some logic. In one demo, a user requested tickets for Seattle Storm games in Seattle in March. Since there were none, Alexa+ asked if the user wanted to look for games in April. This showed Alexa+ anticipating a user’s potential response, while increasing the chances that Amazon would be compensated for helping to drive a future ticket sale.

Unlike with today’s Alexa, Alexa+ is supposed to be able to interpret shared documents. An Amazon rep appeared to show Alexa+ reading a homeowner’s association contract to determine if the user is allowed to install solar panels on their home. Although, as some have learned recently, there are inherent risks with relying on AI to provide totally accurate information about contracts, legal information, or, really anything.

Alexa+ also aims to make navigating smart homes easier. For example, on stage, Panos Panay, Amazon’s SVP of devices and services, asked Alexa+ if anyone took his dog out or brought a package to his house in the last couple of days. The AI was able to sift through Ring camera footage and relay the information (supposedly accurately) within seconds.

Subscription Alexa has a new, friendlier tone, which I’d hope you can scale back for getting more direct, succinct information (I don’t need a voice assistant telling me I have a “great idea!”). But ultimately, Alexa’s agenda remains the same: get information about you and be a part of your purchasing process.

A vast web of partnerships

Making Alexa+ wasn’t “as easy as taking an LLM and jacking it into the original Alexa,” Daniel Rausch, VP of Amazon Alexa and Fire TV, said today.

Alexa+ relies on a pile of partnerships to provide users with real-time information and the ability to complete tasks, like schedule someone from Thumbtack to come to the house to fix the sink.

The logos of some of Alexa+'s partners on display.

Some of Alexa+’s partners on display at Amazon’s Alexa+ press conference. Credit: Scharon Harding

At launch, Alexa+ will work with “tens of thousands of other devices and services from our partners,” said Rausch. He explained:

Experts are groups of systems, capabilities, APIs, and instructions that accomplish specific tasks. So they bring together all the technology it takes to deliver on a customer’s particular request. And building any single expert is actually super complicated. And having LLMs orchestrate across hundreds of them is definitely something that’s never been done.

Amazon trained Alexa+ to use partner APIs so that Alexa+ can work with and accomplish tasks with third-party services. Many of Amazon’s partners don’t have a full set of external APIs, though. In these cases, Alexa+ gathers information through what Amazon called “agentic capabilities,” which is basically like having Alexa+ navigate the web on its own. Amazon also sees Alexa+ performing actions with third parties by having its LLM work with third-party LLMs. Developers can request previews of Alexa+’s three new SDKs as of today.

Interestingly, Amazon’s partners include over 200 publications, like Reuters, Forbes, Elle, and Ars Technica parent company Condé Nast. Based on Amazon’s announcement and the need for Alexa+ to provide real-time information to maximize usefulness, it’s likely that Amazon is relying on content licensing deals with these publishers and pulling in information via APIs and other tools. Training AI models on hundreds of publications would be expensive and time-consuming and would require frequent re-training. Amazon hasn’t confirmed training deals with these publications.

Commerce complications

Alexa+ looks like it could potentially use AI in ways that most people haven’t experienced before. However, there are obvious limitations.

To start, it seems that users need to be working with one of Amazon’s partners for the best experience. For example, Alexa+ can book a reservation for you at a restaurant—but not if that restaurant isn’t on OpenTable. In such cases, Alexa+ could, an Amazon representative said, provide you with the restaurant’s phone number, which it will have taken from the web. But I wonder if Alexa+ will prioritize Amazon partners when it comes to showing results and providing information.

Also, Amazon must still convince people that Alexa+ is a better way to buy and schedule things than your computer, phone, or even your (non-Fire) smart TV. Compared to the other types of gadgets vying to be the intermediary in our buying process, Alexa+ has serious disadvantages.

For one, most Alexa users access the AI from a speaker. However, the voice assistant’s advanced features look much easier to navigate and leverage fully with a screen, namely an Echo Show or Fire TV. I’d happily bet that there are many more people who want a laptop or phone than who want an Echo Show or Amazon TV. Other gadgets can also make it easier to dive deeper into tasks by enabling things like comparing products across competitors, understanding reviews, or marking critical parts of important documents.

Amazon is using a clever approach to dealing with fatigue with subscriptions and, more specifically, subscription spending. By including Alexa+ with Prime, Prime members may feel like they’re getting something extra for free, rather than suddenly paying for Alexa. For some who aren’t subscribed to Prime, Alexa+ could be the extra nudge needed to get them to pay for Prime. For most non-Prime members, though, the idea of paying $20 per month for Alexa is laughable, especially if you only use Alexa through an Echo.

And those with access to Alexa through a screen will still be challenged to change how they do things—critically—choosing to not rely on a technology and company with a checkered past around protecting customer privacy, including when it comes to Alexa and Amazon smart cameras.

If Alexa+ works like the demos I saw today (which, of course, isn’t a guarantee), Amazon will have succeeded in making AI gadgets that outperform expectations. Then, one of the biggest questions remaining will be: Who is willing to pay to have Amazon manage their schedules, smart homes, and purchases?

Photo of Scharon Harding

Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She’s been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK.

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gen-ai-alexa-to-use-anthropic-tech-after-it-“struggled-for-words”-with-amazon’s

Gen AI Alexa to use Anthropic tech after it “struggled for words” with Amazon’s

Subscription Alexa —

Amazon’s $4 billion investment in Anthropic has been under investigation.

Amazon Alexa using generative AI on an Echo Show

Enlarge / Generative AI Alexa asked to make a taco poem.

The previously announced generative AI version of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant “will be powered primarily by Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence models,” Reuters reported today. This comes after challenges with using proprietary models, according to the publication, which cited five anonymous people “with direct knowledge of the Alexa strategy.”

Amazon demoed a generative AI version of Alexa in September 2023 and touted it as being more advanced, conversational, and capable, including the ability to do multiple smart home tasks with simpler commands. Gen AI Alexa is expected to come with a subscription fee, as Alexa has reportedly lost Amazon tens of billions of dollars throughout the years. Earlier reports said the updated voice assistant would arrive in June, but Amazon still hasn’t confirmed an official release date.

Now, Reuters is reporting that Amazon will no longer use its own large language models as the new Alexa’s primary driver. Early versions of gen AI Alexa based on Amazon’s AI models “struggled for words, sometimes taking six or seven seconds to acknowledge a prompt and reply,” Reuters said, citing one of its sources. Without specifying versions or features used, Reuters’ sources said Claude outperformed proprietary software.

In a statement to Reuters, Amazon didn’t deny using third-party models but claimed that its own tech is still part of Alexa:

Amazon uses many different technologies to power Alexa.

When it comes to machine learning models, we start with those built by Amazon, but we have used, and will continue to use, a variety of different models—including (Amazon AI model) Titan and future Amazon models, as well as those from partners—to build the best experience for customers.

Amazon has invested $4 billion in Anthropic (UK regulators are currently investigating this). It’s uncertain if Amazon’s big investment in Anthropic means that Claude can be applied to Alexa for free. Anthropic declined to comment on Reuters’ report.

The new Alexa may be delayed

On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Amazon wants to launch the new Alexa in October, citing internal documents. However, Reuters’ sources claimed that this date could be pushed back if the voice assistant fails certain unspecified internal benchmarks.

The Post said gen AI Alexa could cost up to $10 per month, according to the documents. That coincides with a June Reuters report saying that the service would cost $5 to $10 per month. The Post said Amazon would finalize pricing and naming in August.

But getting people to open their wallets for a voice assistant already associated with being free will be difficult (free Alexa is expected to remain available after the subscription version releases). Some Amazon employees are questioning if people will really pay for Alexa, Reuters noted. Amazon is facing an uphill battle with generative AI, which is being looked at as a last shot for Alexa amid big competition and leads from other AI offerings, including free ones like ChatGPT.

In June, Bank of America analysts estimated that Amazon could make $600 million to $1.2 billion in annual sales with gen AI Alexa, depending on final monthly pricing. This is under the assumption that 10 percent of an estimated 100 million active Alexa users (Amazon says it has sold 500 million Alexa-powered gadgets) will upgrade. But analysts noted that free alternatives would challenge the adoption rate.

The Post’s Monday report said the new Alexa will try winning over subscribers with features like AI-generated news summaries. This Smart Briefing feature will reportedly share summaries based on user preferences on topics including politics, despite OG Alexa’s previous problems with reporting accurate election results. The publication also said that gen AI Alexa would include “a chatbot aimed at children” and “conversational shopping tools.”

Gen AI Alexa to use Anthropic tech after it “struggled for words” with Amazon’s Read More »

amazon-is-bricking-primary-feature-on-$160-echo-device-after-1-year

Amazon is bricking primary feature on $160 Echo device after 1 year

Echo Show 8 Photos Edition —

Smart display will soon default to showing ads after three hours.

echo show 8 video call

In September of 2023, Amazon announced the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition. It looked just like the regular Echo Show 8 smart display/speaker but cost $10 more. Why? Because of its ability to show photos on the home screen for as long as you want—if you signed up for a $2 monthly subscription to Amazon’s PhotosPlus. Now, about a year after releasing the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition, Amazon is announcing that it’s discontinuing PhotosPlus. That means Echo Show 8 Photos Edition users will be forced to see ads instead of their beloved pics.

As per The Verge yesterday, Amazon started sending PhotosPlus subscribers emails saying that it will automatically cancel all PhotosPlus subscriptions on September 12 and will stop supporting PhotosPlus as of September 23. PhotosPlus, per Amazon’s message, “makes photos the primary home screen content you see on your Echo Show 8 and includes 25 GB of storage with Amazon Photos,” Amazon’s online photo storage offering. Users can continue using the 25GB of Amazon Photos storage after September.

However, users will no longer be able to make photos the indefinite home screen on the Alexa gadget. After September, their devices will no longer have the “photo-forward mode” that Amazon advertised for the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition. The photo-forward mode, per Amazon, let people make “selected personal photos the primary rotating content on the ambient screen” (photos rotated every 30 seconds). Now, Echo Show 8 Photo Editions will work like a regular Echo Show 8 and default to showing ads and promotions after three hours.

“The end of my Echo Show 8”

Amazon never explained why owners of the standard Echo Show 8 couldn’t use PhotosPlus or the photo-forward mode. The devices looked identical. It’s possible that the Photos Edition used extra hardware, but it’s likely that the Photos Edition’s $10 premium was meant to offset the lost ad revenue.

But now people who bought into the Photos Edition could feel like the victims of a bait-and-switch. After paying $10 extra to get a device capable of displaying photos indefinitely instead of ads, they’ll be forced into the same user experience as the cheaper Echo Show 8.

“I really have zero interest in keeping it if it’s going to show ads all day,” Reddit user Misschiff0 said in response to the news. “Sadly, this is the end of my Echo Show 8.”

Other apparent customers have discussed abandoning the Echo line entirely in response to the changes. As Reddit user Raybreezer wrote:

I’m dying for a replacement smart home speaker with a screen that’s not Google. Every day I hate the echo [sic] line more and more.

PhotosPlus was always a tough sell

Amazon may make more money selling ads than it has selling PhotosPlus subscriptions and relevant hardware. It was always somewhat peculiar that PhotosPlus only applied to one Amazon device. Amazon might have been considering extending PhotosPlus to other devices but didn’t get enough interest or money from the venture. Getting people to pay monthly for a feature that some would argue the gadget should already support out of the box seems difficult.

Amazon spokesperson Courtney Ramirez told The Verge that Amazon discontinued the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition in March, noting that Amazon regularly evaluates “products and services based on customer feedback” and that users can still get their Echo Show 8 Photos Editions to show photos.

But it’s hard to overlook Amazon discontinuing a product after about only six months and then bricking the device’s exclusive feature only a year after release. The short-lived Echo Show 8 Photos Edition and PhotosPlus service are joining Amazon’s graveyard of gadgets, which include the discontinued Astro business robot, Just Walk OutAmazon GlowFire PhoneDash buttons, and the Amazon Smart Oven.

Amazon’s quick discontinuation of the smart display and PhotosPlus is emblematic of its struggles to find a lucrative purpose and significant revenue source for Alexa-powered devices. Reports have claimed that Alexa went without a profit timeline for years and has cost Amazon tens of billions of dollars.

Amazon is banking on the upcoming generative AI version of Alexa being so good that people will pay a subscription fee to use it. But with tough competition, generative AI implementations varying in accuracy and relevance, and some consumers already turned off by consumer gadgets’ AI marketing hype, it’ll be hard for Amazon to turn things around. A premium-priced Alexa device losing its main feature after a year doesn’t instill confidence in future Amazon products either.

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alexa-had-“no-profit-timeline,”-cost-amazon-$25-billion-in-4-years

Alexa had “no profit timeline,” cost Amazon $25 billion in 4 years

In this photo illustration, Echo Dot smart speaker with working Alexa with blue light ring seen displayed.

The Amazon business unit that focuses on Alexa-powered gadgets lost $25 billion between 2017 and 2021, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported this week.

Amazon claims it has sold more than 500,000 Alexa devices, which included Echo speakers, Kindle readers, Fire TV sets and streaming devices, and Blink and Ring smart home security cameras. But since debuting, Alexa, like other voice assistants, has struggled to make money. In late 2022, Business Insider reported that Alexa was set to lose $10 billion that year.

WSJ said it got the $25 billion figure from “internal documents” and that it wasn’t able to determine the Devices business’s losses before or after the shared time period.

“No profit timeline”

WSJ’s report claims to offer insight into how Devices was able to bleed so much money for so long.

For one, it seems like the business unit was allowed some wiggle room in terms of financial success in the interest of innovation and the potential for long-term gains. Someone the WSJ described as being “a former longtime Devices executive” said that when Alexa first started, Amazon’s gadgets team “didn’t have a profit timeline” when launching products.

Amazon is known to have sold Echo speakers for cheap or at a loss in the hopes of making money off Alexa later. In 2019, then-Amazon Devices SVP Dave Limp, who exited the company last year, told WSJ: “We don’t have to make money when we sell you the device.” WSJ noted that this strategy has applied to other unspecified Amazon devices, too.

People tend to use Alexa for free services, though, like checking the weather or the time, not making big purchases.

“We worried we’ve hired 10,000 people and we’ve built a smart timer,” an anonymous person that WSJ said is a “former senior employee” said.

An Amazon spokesperson told WSJ that more than half of people with an Echo have shopped with it but wouldn’t provide more specifics. Per “former employees on the Alexa shopping team” that WSJ spoke with, however, the amount of shopping revenue tied to Alexa is insignificant.

In an emailed statement, an Amazon spokesperson told Ars Technica, in part:

Within Devices & Services, we’re focused on the value we create when customers use our services, not just when they buy our devices. Our Devices & Services organization has established numerous profitable businesses for Amazon and is well-positioned to continue doing so going forward.

Further hindering Alexa’s revenue are challenges in selling security and other services and the limitation of ad sales because they annoy Alexa users, WSJ reported.

Massive losses also didn’t seem to slow down product development. WSJ claimed the Devices business lost over $5 billion in 2018 yet still spent money developing the Astro consumer robot. That robot has yet to see general availability, while a business version is getting bricked just 10 months after release. Amazon Halo health trackers, which have also been bricked, and Luna game-streaming devices were also developed in 2019, when the hardware unit lost over $6 billion, per WSJ.

Amazon has laid off at least 19,000 workers since 2022, with the Devices division reportedly hit especially hard.

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amazon-virtually-kills-efforts-to-develop-alexa-skills,-disappointing-dozens

Amazon virtually kills efforts to develop Alexa Skills, disappointing dozens

disincentives —

Most devs would need to pay out of pocket to host Alexa apps after June.

amazon echo dot gen 4

Enlarge / The 4th-gen Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker.

Amazon

Alexa hasn’t worked out the way Amazon originally planned.

There was a time when it thought that Alexa would yield a robust ecosystem of apps, or Alexa Skills, that would make the voice assistant an integral part of users’ lives. Amazon envisioned tens of thousands of software developers building valued abilities for Alexa that would grow the voice assistant’s popularity—and help Amazon make some money.

But about seven years after launching a rewards program to encourage developers to build Skills, Alexa’s most preferred abilities are the basic ones, like checking the weather. And on June 30, Amazon will stop giving out the monthly Amazon Web Services credits that have made it free for third-party developers to build and host Alexa Skills. The company also recently told devs that its Alexa Developer Rewards program was ending, virtually disincentivizing third-party devs to build for Alexa.

Death knell for third-party Alexa apps

The news has left dozens of Alexa Skills developers wondering if they have a future with Alexa, especially as Amazon preps a generative AI and subscription-based version of Alexa. “Dozens” may sound like a dig at Alexa’s ecosystem, but it’s an estimation based on a podcast from Skills developers Mark Tucker and Allen Firstenberg, who, in a recent podcast, agreed that “dozens” of third-party devs were contemplating if it’s still worthwhile to develop Alexa skills. The casual summary wasn’t stated as a hard fact or confirmed by Amazon but, rather, seemed like a rough and quick estimation based on the developers’ familiarity with the Skills community. But with such minimal interest and money associated with Skills, dozens isn’t an implausible figure either.

Amazon admitted that there’s little interest in its Skills incentives programs. Bloomberg reported that “fewer than 1 percent of developers were using the soon-to-end programs,” per Amazon spokesperson Lauren Raemhild.

“Today, with over 160,000 skills available for customers and a well-established Alexa developer community, these programs have run their course, and we decided to sunset them,” she told the publication.

The writing on the wall, though, is that Amazon doesn’t have the incentive or money to grow the Alexa app ecosystem it once imagined. Voice assistants largely became money pits, and the Alexa division has endured recent layoffs as it fights for survival and relevance. Meanwhile, Google Assistant stopped using third-party apps in 2022.

“Many developers are now going to need to make some tough decisions about maintaining existing or creating future experiences on Alexa,” Tucker said via a LinkedIn post.

Alexa Skills criticized as “useless”

As of this writing, the top Alexa skills, in order, are: Jeopardy, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and Calm. That’s not exactly a futuristic list of must-have technological feats. For years, people have wondered when the “killer app” would come to catapult Alexa’s popularity. But now it seems like Alexa’s only hope at that killer use case is generative AI (a gamble filled with its own obstacles).

But like Amazon, third-party developers found it hard to make money off Skills, with a rare few pointing to making thousands of dollars at most and the vast majority not making anything.

“If you can’t make money off it, no one’s going to seriously engage,” Joseph “Jo” Jaquinta, a developer who had made over 12 Skills, told CNET in 2017.

By 2018, Amazon had paid developers millions to grow Alexa Skills. But by 2020, Amazon reduced the amount of money it paid out to third-party developers, an anonymous source told Bloomberg, The source noted that the apps made by paid developers weren’t making the company much money. Come 2024, the most desirable things you can make Alexa do remain basic tasks, like playing a song and apparently trivia games.

Amazon hasn’t said it’s ending Skills. That would seem premature considering that its Alexa chatbot isn’t expected until June. Developers can still make money off Skills with in-app purchases, but the incentive is minimal.

“Developers like you have and will play a critical role in the success of Alexa, and we appreciate your continued engagement,” Amazon’s notice to devs said, per Bloomberg.

We’ll see how “critical” Amazon treats those remaining developers once its generative AI chatbot is ready.

Amazon virtually kills efforts to develop Alexa Skills, disappointing dozens Read More »

“alexa-is-in-trouble”:-paid-for-alexa-gives-inaccurate-answers-in-early-demos

“Alexa is in trouble”: Paid-for Alexa gives inaccurate answers in early demos

Amazon Echo Show 8 with Alexa

Enlarge / Amazon demoed future generative AI capabilties for Alexa in September.

“If this fails to get revenue, Alexa is in trouble.”

A quote from an anonymous Amazon employee in a Wednesday Business Insider report paints a dire picture. Amazon needs its upcoming subscription version of Alexa to drive revenue in ways that its voice assistant never has before.

Amazon declined Ars’ request for comment on the report. But the opening quote in this article could have been uttered by anyone following voice assistants for the past year-plus. All voice assistants have struggled to drive revenue since people tend to use voice assistants for basic queries, like checking the weather, rather than transactions.

Amazon announced plans to drive usage and interest in Alexa by releasing a generative AI version that it said would one day require a subscription.

This leads to the question: Would you pay to use Alexa? Amazon will be challenged to convince people to change how they use Alexa while suddenly paying a monthly rate to enable that unprecedented behavior.

Workers within Amazon seemingly see this obstacle. Insider, citing an anonymous Amazon employee, reported that “some were questioning the entire premise of charging for Alexa. For example, people who already pay for an existing Amazon service, such as Amazon Music, might not be willing to pay additional money to get access to the newer version of Alexa.”

“There is tension over whether people will pay for Alexa or not,” one of the anonymous Amazon workers reportedly said.

Subscription-based Alexa originally planned for June release

Amazon hasn’t publicly confirmed a release date for generative AI Alexa. But Insider’s report, citing “internal documents and people familiar with the matter,” said Amazon has been planning to release its subscription plan on June 30. However, plans for what Insider said will be called “Alexa Plus” and built on “Remarkable Alexa” technology could be delayed due to numerous development challenges.

According to the report, the Remarkable Alexa tech has been being demoed by 15,000 customers and currently succeeds in being conversational but is “deflecting answers, often giving unnecessarily long or inaccurate responses.”

In September, then-SVP of devices and services at Amazon David Limp demoed Alexa understanding more complex commands, including Alexa not requiring the “Hey Alexa” prompt and being able to understand multiple demands for multiple apps through a single spoken phrase.

Insider reported: “The new Alexa still didn’t meet the quality standards expected for Alexa Plus, these people added, noting the technical challenges and complexity of redesigning Alexa.”

“Legacy constraints”

According to the report, people working on the original Alexa insisted on using what they had already built for the standard voice assistant with the paid-for version, resulting in a bloated technology and “internal politics.”

However, the original Alexa is based on a natural language model with multiple parts doing multiple things, compared to the colossal large language model of generative AI Alexa.

Now, generative AI Alexa is reportedly moving to a new technological stack to avoid the “legacy constraints” of today’s Alexa but potentially delaying things.

“Alexa is in trouble”: Paid-for Alexa gives inaccurate answers in early demos Read More »