E-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) is applying artificial intelligence (A.I.) capabilities to its popular Alexa digital assistant.
Alexa devices are found in millions of homes around the world and marketed as part of Amazon’s “smart home” suite of technologies.
Alexa can verbally interact with humans and provide information and perform tasks when prompted by voice commands.
Amazon is now upgrading Alexa as conversational A.I. tools reshape the technology industry and consumer expectations.
Specifically, Amazon says it is adding generative A.I. to its Alexa digital assistant, which is a type of A.I. that can instantly create content such as text and images in response to human commands.
Generative A.I. could enable Alexa to hold more natural conversations with users, answer more complex questions, and be more creative. It could also enable more personalized interactions, allowing the assistant to learn about human interests and tailor its responses to people.
Alexa first launched a decade ago and, along with Siri, Cortana and other digital assistants, has changed how people interact with technology.
However, concerns have been raised about the potential for digital assistants to gather people’s personal information on behalf of big technology companies, and breach personal protections that safeguard information such as Social Security Numbers and passwords.
Despite widespread cuts announced at Amazon earlier this year, including 18,000 staff layoffs, Amazon continues to invest heavily in the Alexa digital assistant.
Earlier in May, Amazon unveiled several new products, including the $39.99 U.S. Echo Pop and the $89.99 U.S. Echo Show 5, which are smart speakers that contain a screen and employ Alexa technology.
Amazon chief executive officer (CEO) Andy Jassy has said that generative AI remains a key focus for the company.
Amazon is reportedly working on adding ChatGPT-like search capabilities to its e-commerce store and wants to add generative A.I. to a new home robot that it is developing.
Amazon’s stock is up 40% this year and trading at $120.11 U.S. per share.
