Amazon looks set to launch a paid-for, generative AI-powered Alexa this year

midian182 · 2024-05-22T11:59:00-0400

In brief: Would you be willing to pay a subscription fee for Alexa if Amazon infused its aging assistant with generative AI? Probably not, but the tech giant is reportedly going to do it later this year anyway. The paid-for Alexa will be optional, though; the current version isn't going away.

Reports that Amazon is considering introducing a subscription-based Alexa tier featuring the latest generative AI tech have been swirling for years. Amazon hopes that such a version will be able to match the abilities of ChatGPT and similar chatbots.

According to CNBC sources, the more conversational version of Alexa will launch later in 2024. Amazon has yet to decide how much to charge for the tier, but it won't be included in the $139 Prime subscription. Some employees have suggested that $20 per month might be required to cover the costs of using the generative AI tech.

There were reports in January that 15,000 customers had been testing the new Alexa, which was codenamed Remarkable Alexa, though Amazon could call the final version Alexa Plus. The tests were said to have yielded disappointing results, with some of the AI's answers not meeting expectations.

Amazon said last year that the latest language model will allow users to have more human-like conversations with a 'smarter and more conversational' Alexa. More recently, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy waxed lyrical about generative AI during Amazon's Q2 2023 earnings call, saying it was at the "absolute heart of every customer experience in which we offer."

Jassy previously talked enthusiastically about the mix of generative AI and Alexa. He said the company was building an improved Large Language Model (LLM) that will power the virtual assistant, one that is much larger, much more generalized, and capable.

Alexa is looking increasingly last-gen as new chatbots become more advanced. The recently revealed ChatGPT-4o model, for example, can hold a conversation with a human so well that it's hard to believe you're not talking to a person – who is definitely not Scarlett Johansson – at times. Meanwhile, Alexa gets confused when you ask it to turn on a light.

Amazon said that as of 2023, it had sold more than 500 million Alexa-enabled devices, but a 2022 report noted the retention issues the company was facing. It was found that as many as 25% of new Alexa device owners no longer actively used the virtual assistant into their second week of ownership.

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Amazon looks set to launch a paid-for, generative AI-powered Alexa this year

MrCus976 · 2024-05-22T12:06:24-0400

Sure, I'm not saying no to $20 per month... I really need the money.

TomSEA · 2024-05-22T12:33:36-0400

No thanks. I don't see the need for an AI-enhanced Echo device. She annoys me enough already.

Uncle Al · 2024-05-22T12:49:47-0400

Nope, won't be paying somebody to spy on me .... nope, not today or ever for that ....

kira setsu · 2024-05-22T13:00:23-0400

Pass, I'll just stick with my old T-800 alexa.

axiomatic13 · 2024-05-22T13:34:13-0400

No. Just no. I already removed all of my Alexa speakers from everywhere except the kitchen because it would pressure me for sales on items I had bought in the past, almost daily. Once even as I was waking up in the morning. That was the day I kicked her out, in fact.

letsgoiowa · 2024-05-22T14:03:00-0400

I would consider $5 a month lol. It simply isn't as useful as having it everywhere with me in a mobile app, so it needs to be cheaper. It also can only communicate through voice so that's another ding. Unless it can understand natural language for commands and learn context over time, it's just not a good value proposition at all.
Imagine if you could say "can you make a routine where the lights downstairs are off starting at 11 and come on when I walk in for the morning?" and it would intelligently understand which groups you mean, what time the routine should be set to run, and how to trigger it. It would save tons of fiddling with it.
My wife often will just say "turn off the thingy" and get frustrated it doesn't work, but maybe a smarter Alexa would ask "which device do you mean?" or provide a suggestion.

wiyosaya · 2024-05-22T14:33:31-0400

I don't even use Alexa or any "smart speaker" for that matter and see no use for them in my life. I certainly won't start paying $20/mo to use an AI infused Alexa. There are already too many services out there that want a cut of my paycheck - most of them are not getting that cut.

Maybe if Amazon included it in the cost of Prime. Who am I kidding, I could care less about Prime, either.

wiyosaya · 2024-05-22T14:35:30-0400

axiomatic13 said:
No. Just no. I already removed all of my Alexa speakers from everywhere except the kitchen because it would pressure me for sales on items I had bought in the past, almost daily. Once even as I was waking up in the morning. That was the day I kicked her out, in fact.

Sorry, but LOL. We certainly live in a Nanny World.

Neatfeatguy · 2024-05-22T15:37:28-0400

So, you will now have the opportunity to pay $20 a month to use Alexa?

You couldn't pay me enough to keep any of these listening devices in my home.

axiomatic13 · 2024-05-22T16:20:50-0400

Neatfeatguy said:
So, you will now have the opportunity to pay $20 a month to use Alexa?

You couldn't pay me enough to keep any of these listening devices in my home.

The Google mini I have is great, it answers unknown questions pretty well, and it does not speak unless spoken too.

seeprime · 2024-05-22T17:04:32-0400

axiomatic13 said:
The Google mini I have is great, it answers unknown questions pretty well, and it does not speak unless spoken too.

Isn't it always listening though?

axiomatic13 · 2024-05-22T17:15:31-0400

seeprime said:
Isn't it always listening though?

I am certain it is, but I'm not doing anything illegal, so I'm not too worried about it.

Jarenien · 2024-05-23T08:53:02-0400

axiomatic13 said:
I am certain it is, but I'm not doing anything illegal, so I'm not too worried about it.

Exactly, only those that are doing illicit/illegal activities would care. The rest of us don't give a ****. I mean, if someone wants to waste their life listening to me, go ahead, they will be bored out of their mind.

wiyosaya · 2024-05-23T14:31:38-0400

axiomatic13 said:
I am certain it is, but I'm not doing anything illegal, so I'm not too worried about it.

Unless there's a live person listening, I'm not sure a "smart" device like this would know the difference between what's legal and what's not unless they were programmed to do so. And that's where the legality of such listening would be called into question if a case were ever filed against someone who was talking about something illegal.

I'm sure that anyone doing something illegal would be wise enough to turn off, remove, or simply not have a device like this.

Amazon looks set to launch a paid-for, generative AI-powered Alexa this year

midian182

Posts: 9,817 +124

In brief: Would you be willing to pay a subscription fee for Alexa if Amazon infused its aging assistant with generative AI? Probably not, but the tech giant is reportedly going to do it later this year anyway. The paid-for Alexa will be optional, though; the current version isn't going away.

MrCus976

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TomSEA

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Uncle Al

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kira setsu

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axiomatic13

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letsgoiowa

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wiyosaya

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wiyosaya

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Neatfeatguy

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axiomatic13

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seeprime

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axiomatic13

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wiyosaya

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