Alexa+ is a more conversational voice assistant powered by generative AI

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant has been out for a long time. However, it has its own limitations as to what it could do. Now, however, it has received the much-needed AI-powered upgrade, that is supposed to make it smarter and more conversational.

Called Alexa+, the updated voice assistant is powered by generative AI, and it can now do almost everything, from helping you make reservations to summarising a video recording from a smart home device. Plus, it’s easy to talk to. Here’s everything you need to know.

Everything you need to know about Alexa+

Unlike the old Alexa voice assistant, Alexa+ can converse about virtually anything. It now follows a more natural and expansive format for conversing.

What this means is that you can speak to Alexa+ just like you’d do with humans. So, you can use colloquial expressions and even speak half-formed thoughts, and the voice assistant will understand it all.

Alexa+ can also help you make reservations and appointments. It can also check your schedule and tell if some plans coincide with others in the upcoming week. It can also tell you when your Uber is arriving.

What’s more? With smart home integration, it can also help you offer a summary of what your smart home camera recorded in a day, further allowing you to ask specific questions.

The company claims that Alexa+ is more personalised, and it can remember your likes and dislikes. Say you love pizzas and pastas. Alexa+ will remember your food preferences, and next time you try to book a restaurant, it will first suggest pizzerias or Italian cafés near you.

Furthermore, Alexa+ is more proactive. It will suggest you start your commute early when there’s heavy traffic or recommend you buy your favourite products when they go on sale.

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For all this, Alexa+ uses large language models (LLMs) available on Amazon Bedrock. To train it to understand specific and complex queries, Amazon used a concept called ‘experts’ – which is a group of systems, capabilities, APIs, and instructions that accomplish specific types of tasks for customers.

As for availability, Alexa+ isn’t available just yet. But it will be available on your Echo devices, phone, and car soon. When? That remains to be seen. Amazon, however, confirmed that those with a Prime account will be able to access Alexa+ for free.