ALEXA’S responses are about to get a whole lot smarter.
Amazon has announced that Alexa will soon sound more natural thanks to “generative” AI.
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In a preview of things to come, the popular voice assistant sounds less robotic with changing tones and expressions.
The flow of conversation is also dramatically improved, with faster response times and the need for fewer additional prompts.
“The next generation of Alexa will be able to deliver unique experiences based on the preferences you’ve shared, the services you’ve interacted with, and information about your environment,” Amazon explains.
“Alexa also carries over relevant context throughout conversations, in the same way that humans do all the time.
“People use pronouns, catchphrases, and build up context of the places, times, or scenes we talk about.
“Ask Alexa a question about a museum, and you’ll be able to ask a series of follow-ups about its hours, exhibits, and location without needing to restate any of the prior context, like the name or the day you plan to go.”
The announcement came as Amazon revealed a long list of fresh Alexa-enabled devices.
Among them are two brand new Echos, with the Echo Show 8 and Echo Hub.
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There are revamped Fire TV Sticks too, with the Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
Amazon also unveiled a trio of tablets, including the Fire HD 10, the Fire HD 10 Kids and the Fire HD Kids Pro.
While the Alexa improvements are still in the pipeline, the tech giant shared some new features that are coming imminently.
Firstly, eye gaze on Alexa, which lets people with mobility or speech disabilities use Alexa with their eyes instead of their voice or touch.
This will roll out to customers at no additional cost later this year on Fire Max 11 tablets in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan.
Another useful addition is call translation, allowing Alexa to show captions in real time.
It’ll work on supported Echo Show devices and on the Alexa mobile app in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain later this year, with over ten languages including English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
