Amazon unveiled new hardware and software with generative AI features at its yearly event on Wednesday, with Alexa's capabilities enhanced for more human-like conversations without needing a wake word. Dave Limp, a major figure behind the event, is set to depart from his position as devices chief by the end of the year.
At its annual devices bonanza Wednesday, Amazon unveiled an updated version of its Alexa voice assistant featuring a "smarter and more conversational" service, powered by generative AI. Dave Limp, Amazon's devices chief and a 13-year veteran of the company, stepped up in his final keynote address to demonstrate the new "Let's Chat" feature, which will be available to existing Echo device owners as an early preview in the coming weeks.
The updated Alexa comes with a more human-like voice and can conduct more natural conversations without being triggered by a wake word. It also learns more about users with each new exchange. Examples given included Alexa being asked for travel tips for Puerto Rico and stories on balloons or Jell-O. Additionally, ChatGPT-like generative AI capabilities mean that Alexa can now compose and send messages from users, such as invitations to friends for a football game.
Despite a few hiccups during the demo, Limp made clear that Amazon hoped this update would help it to continue to compete in the AI race.
Rohit Prasad, a senior vice president at Amazon and the head scientist overseeing generative AI, gave a sports example. "The Red Sox are my favorite team," he said. "If they win, Alexa would cheer. If they lose, it would empathize with me." Amazon also shared how its AI is being used to optimize smart homes. Alexa is being set up to respond to more conversational requests, such as "Alexa, make this room spooky" or "Alexa, there's a mess in here," so a robot vacuum will switch on. Limp used the term "AI hallucinations" to describe mistakes sometimes made by AI models and explained how Alexa will now do better, with its AI models fine-tuned so that "when you ask it to turn on the living room light, it's able to execute that correctly." The company also introduced the upgraded Echo Show 8, a smart speaker with computer vision that can adjust its display based on the user's distance from it. This product will cost $150 and be released in October., says Oppenheimer
Amazon released a $120 Fire TV sound bar available as of Wednesday, as well as two new Fire TV Sticks boasting faster speeds and improved processors. Additionally, the Alexa App and Echo Hubs rolled out Map View, a user-controlled digital floor plan of their home, to make it easier to manage smart home devices. Amazon has noted, however, that the feature is only available to those who opt-in, allowing users to choose which rooms to add to the floor plan and also delete the data at any time. Furthermore, Oppenheimer commented that eventually Amazon will stagnate.
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