Amazon on Wednesday upgraded its voice-assistant Alexa with a new, custom-built large language model (LLM) as the company tries to catch up on AI amid stiff competition from its industry peers.
“Our latest model has been specifically optimised for voice and the things we know our customers love—like having access to real-time information, efficiently controlling their smart home, and getting the most out of their home entertainment,” Dave Limp, the SVP of devices and services, said on onstage during Amazon’s fall event in Arlington, Virginia.
Amazon says the new Alexa LLM model is more conversational, offers “real-time info”, and has less “latency” than previous versions of its voice assistant. The new model will be both “larger and generalised,” Limp said, and it will “help us take next steps towards a remarkably different customer experience.” The new Alexa LLM will soon be available as a free preview on Alexa-powered devices in the US.
The new Alexa LLM model is more conversational, offers real-time information (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
“The capabilities … deliver unique experiences based on the preferences that you’ve shared, the services that you’ve interacted with and the information about the environment in and around your home,” Limp said. “This [new model] will allow you to surface personal reminders. For example, it can help you with recently-played music, or even come up with recipe recommendations based on your grocery purchases.”
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During a demo on stage, Limp asked Alexa, powered by the new generative AI model “What’s your favourite sports team?” The voice assistant responded to that and follow-up questions about Seahawks stats and game times — even after Limp paused for a second and addressed the audience and then returned to the conversation with Alexa.
A demo of Echo Hub, a new Alexa-powered smart home hub (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
In the mid-2000s, Amazon introduced Alexa and brought it to its lineup of smart speakers. It was Alexa that introduced natural interaction with our devices using just the voice. Soon Alexa expanded beyond voice and made it to smart displays and other products. However, the arrival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT last year opened a new chapter in artificial intelligence. In recent months, generative AI has been widely integrated into every major product and app.
At the event, Amazon also announced a range of new products and software upgrades including the Echo Show 8, a new voice search feature on Fire TVs, a device to manage all the various smart home gadgets in your house, kid’s tablets, and more.
