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At an event in New York on Wednesday , Amazon announced an upgraded Alexa experience — Alexa+ — powered by generative AI technology . Onstage , Amazon ’s devices and services chief Panos Panay bid it a “ pure re - architecture ” of the AI assistant .
“ While the imaginativeness of Alexa has been ambitious and remains incredibly compelling , until in good order this moment — decently this moment — we have been limited by the technology , ” Panay said . “ An AI chatbot on its own does n’t get us to our visual sense of Alexa . ”
Amazon says that the raw Alexa can answer questions like “ How many script have I translate this year ? , ” drawing on info from an Amazon client ’s invoice . It can notify users when , for example , raw tag for a concert drop , and help oneself with certain tasks like booking a dinner mental reservation .
“ The new Alexa knows almost [ everything ] in your life — your schedule , your voguish home , your preferences , the equipment you ’re using , the people you ’re connected [ to and ] the entertainment you [ bask ] , ” Panay tell .
Like other assistants on the market , the upgrade Alexa has visual understanding . Through a gadget ’s television camera , it can ingest a telecasting provender and answer to questions , taking whatever ’s chance in the footage into report .
Panay says that the improved Alexa can understand tone and the surround around it , and adjust its responses on the fly ball . “ She ’s been trained in a couple of different way , from EQ to humor to understanding , ” he supply . “ She understands I ’m a slight second queasy , she ’s test to calm me . ”
Aside from labor like creating quiz from study guide and crafting basic travelling path , Alexa+ can respond to enquiry such as “ What ’s the best pizza nearby ? ” answer are inform by what ’s in Alexa ’s “ memory ” and preferences that Alexa has notice over time .
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There ’s a visual component to the raw Alexa , as well . On Amazon ’s Echo Show sassy displays , Alexa+ powers photo gallery and other personalized contentedness provender . A newfangled “ For You ” jury displays well timed updates based on a substance abuser ’s interest , in gain to widgets like smart home restraint .
Predictably , Alexa+ integrates tightly with Amazon ’s broader impudent home ecosystem . Users can say a command to have Alexa play music from Amazon Music on a plunk for smart machine connected to the same Wi - Fi web , or have a Fire TV deviceskip to a particular scene in a movie or TV show .
Alexa+ can also resume footage from Ring security cameras , depict what ’s going on in a fit and pulling up specific moments . “ She ’s your virtual security guard , ” Panay articulate .
Amazon is pitching the unexampled Alexa as not just a worldwide - aim assistant , but a serious productivity pecker . user can upload files and documents ( plus emails ) , and Alexa will be capable to parse and refer to these in the futurity , according to the society .
For deterrent example , a substance abuser could say something like , “ I forwarded a work schedule , are there any interesting events I need to be aware of ? , ” and Alexa will highlight key items in the doc . But Amazon has n’t yet partake in the specific on how user would place Alexa such files .
Beyond but record files , Alexa+ can take certain military action on those files . It can add text from a doc to a calendar , for instance , and create a reminder from info found within a finical doc or electronic mail .
Of of course , AI is a infamous hallucinator . Amazon asserts that Alexa+ is accurate and reliable , but we ’ll have to see whether those claim hold upwhen the new experience launch later this year .
