Amazon updated Alexa to speak like a human with artificial intelligence support

Alexa has entered the world of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and now “speaks like a human.” The news was shared during Amazon’s global device event this Wednesday (20).

Dave Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services, explains that “generative AI focuses on creators, not consumers,” so the update comes with great expectations.

The proposition is simple: You start talking to Alexa and it responds faster and more naturally. Amazon’s language model is called Speech-to-Speech. However, Alexa also needs to learn directly from individual user conversations and interactions.

Rohit Prasad, vice president and chief science officer of Amazon Artificial General Intelligence, explains that this new native language model (LLM) combines text-to-speech interactions and then “translates” the responses into audio.

With the update, Alexa will have a more human voice in your interactions. For example, the assistant may laugh, appear surprised, or even pause during the conversation to say “um…”

One feature the company is showing is the “new Alexa”‘s ability to carry on conversations in a more practical way. It will be possible to start a conversation and even leave the conversation for a while before returning to the same topic. You can also interrupt the response to add more context or ask for something additional during the interaction.

The proposal includes preventing the user from always repeating the activation word “Alexa” when he wants to talk to the assistant. For this purpose, there is a new feature tied to Visual ID; This feature allows you to start a conversation by simply approaching the screen, as it can recognize faces. The function is only compatible with models with a screen and camera.

Alexa is more personal

Based on the new language model, Alexa will be available on all Echo models, including the first model released in 2014. However, it will initially be available only to users in the United States.

“Our new model [de linguagem] Limp says it’s specifically optimized for the things we know our consumers love, like accessing voice and real-time information, efficiently controlling your smart home, and getting the most out of your home entertainment.

Regarding the announcement, Limp underlines that the company created the “new Alexa” by taking five basic points into consideration:

• Speech: based on words, body language, eye contact, gestures, and the like;

• Real world applications: Bringing Masters closer to users in the “real world”, not in your browser tab [de internet]”;

• Personalization: Ensuring conversations are tailored to different users, such as families;

• Personality: The company promises that Alexa will “come up with ideas” based on the new LLM;

• Reliability: Protecting the privacy of users and families and providing quality information.

Alexa can also be explored by developers who can use and integrate its APIs with LLM. According to the company, the adoption experience requires no code and should be “simple and fast.” This new feature will be available starting next year.

*The journalist went to Arlington, USA, upon the invitation of Amazon.