How Amazon plans to revamp Alexa with AI chatbot technology
Voice assistants were once considered futuristic. However, in a world of ChatGPT and Bard, they have become redundant. Amazon is not ready to give up on its struggling voice assistant, Alexa. It plans on creating a deadly combination by uniting generative AI and Alexa. Let's take a look at how Amazon plans to improve its Alexa business by infusing AI.
Why does this story matter?
Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant once blew us away with their abilities. Unfortunately, this different flavor of AI never evolved. The stagnation in the growth of voice assistants meant them ceding the AI race to chatbots. Google and Apple seem to have made up their minds about assistants. Amazon, however, has decided to give theirs another shot.
Amazon will use proprietary LLM to power Alexa
A newer and better Alexa is in the works, reports Insider citing a leaked document. The company plans to use its own LLM called the 'Alexa Teacher Model' to power Alexa. Per the report, Alexa has been using it for years, but Amazon is building much larger and "more generalized and capable ones" to make Alexa "more proactive and conversational."
New Alexa will think more and fetch less
A beefed-up Alexa will be an entity that thinks instead of simply fetching from a database. For instance, it will be able able to generate a bedtime story in ChatGPT-style when an eight-year-old asks. According to a section titled "Alexa LLM Entertainment Use Cases," the new Alexa will deliver media recommendations, news, and stories in a conversational fashion.
Amazon plans to use cameras to improve AI experience
Amazon plans to use cameras to make the Alexa AI experience more interesting. The company is reportedly considering using the Echo Show Smart display camera to recognize what toy a child is holding and incorporate that into the story. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? But the collection of such data can invite several questions about privacy.
This is a chance for Amazon to reinvent Alexa
Alexa's development has been stuck in a loop, with nothing seeming to work. Amazon's mass layoffs, which saw around 27,000 people lose their jobs, affected nearly 2,000 employees in the Alexa division. The AI frenzy has given the company another chance to reinvent Alexa and make it a significant source of revenue. For that, Alexa will have to do more than just generate stories.
