"We heard a number of complaints and issues and challenges around the number of features — and the breadth of features," Walker said.
Other complaints included how difficult it was to use the system, the capability of the system to translate the person speaking and knowing which keywords to use.
"It's almost like having to memorize a menu and then say things in a certain order without being able to see the menu," Walker said. "That is a tough thing for human beings to do."
Yet consumers also are interested in having the same in-home voice assistant on their next vehicle, she noted. That's because they already know how to use the features and it would be more consistent.
Walker said cloud-based voice assistant systems, combined with machine learning and artificial intelligence, can help solve a lot of the problems.
At Amazon, the focus has been on four areas: entertainment; navigation; communications such as making a hands-free call, and finding nearby services; and car control, such as changing the radio station or preconditioning the vehicle by defrosting windows or setting the cabin temperature before entering.
Automakers such as General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and BMW are integrating Amazon's Alexa into their vehicles, she said.
